Road to Becoming a Pokemon Master, With My Brother?
by Pika-Bones
Summary: "Ash and Paul are two sides of the same coin". We know how Ash and Paul feel about each other and how they earned each others respect at the Lily of the Valley Conference. But what if they never met in the first place. What if they had to live under the same roof and ended up traveling together? How will they coexist? Possible Amourshipping and Advanceshipping.
1. Chapter 1

Road to Becoming a Pokemon Master, With My Brother?

**Hello ladies and gentlemen, I am Pika-Bones and I would like to introduce you guys to (insert Title here). This is my first work to show up on this site, but I will not use that as any means as an excuse for not writing a good story. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my story and I hope you enjoy it.**

** There are a few things I need to mention. First of all this story is meant to take place when Ash comes back from Unova. Another very important detail is that this story takes into consideration that Ash DID NOT meet Paul in Sinnoh. All those battles and exchanges they had never happened at least not with Paul. They never met before. This is just so that the story makes sense.**

**Also just to make sure, the main characters and other characters later on will be older than they are in the anime because reasons.**

**Paul-16  
Ash-16 **

**Well enough rambling from me, let's move on to the story.**

Chapter 1: A New Element

A streak of lightning crosses the blue sky of the small town of pallet town.  
"Pika-chuu", the loud cry breaks the silence and signals a struggle taking place behind a peaceful looking house.

Behind the house two teenagers stand on opposite sides of a dirt battle field. On one side of the field stands a raven haired trainer with grounded teeth. On the other side stands a purple haired trainer standing firm and unflinching.

Between the two trainers, 2 rodent like Pokemon maneuver on the field for position. On the raven haired trainer's side stands a Pikachu, a yellow rodent like pokemon with long and black pointed ears, 2 red sac pouches, and brown fur on its back. It also has a lightning shaped tail. At the moment Pikachu has a look of determination.

On the other side of the field stands a raichu, the evolved form of Pikachu. Like Pikachu, it is rodent like, but it is more than twice its size. It has dark orange fur with a white belly. It also has a long, thin, black tail that ends in a lightning bolt shaped end. Raichu has a big arrogant smile plastered on its face.

The raven haired trainers auburn eyes lit up and he started, "Pikachu, let's start with speed, quick attack", in an instant Pikachu charged at Raichu at an incredible speed.

The purple haired trainer responded quickly, "Pathetic. Raichu cut off Pikachu and use mega punch", Raichu reacted quickly to his trainers command and with agile feet met Pikachu at mid field and prepared to throw a devastating punch.

Seeing the impending attack the Pikachu's trainer called out, "Pikachu watch out!" Pikachu stopped in its tracks at the same time Raichu launched his attack, "Rai-chu!" at this Pikachu reacted quickly and jumped back to a sliding stop, dodging the devastating attack.

**"Boom!"** Raichu's mega punch missed Pikachu and hit the ground throwing up dust into the air. The dust cleared revealing a small crater where Raichu's fist landed.

As the dust cleared, Raichu regained his position back on the field with his arrogant smile still plastered on his face. Both Pikachu and his trainer grounded their teeth at the sight. "Pikachu, thunderbolt!" At his trainer's command Pikachu charged up for a split second and launched a lightning strike at Raichu.

"Raichu, hold your ground" commanded the trainer simply. Raichu braced itself for the attack and took it get head on. Pikachu kept up the attack for a while until Raichu dispersed the attack. "Thunderbolt immediately", demanded the purple haired trainer.

Raichu then launched his own powerful lighting strike at the Pikachu. The raven haired trainer knew Pikachu wouldn't dodge the attack the way raichu just shrugged off Pikachu's thunderbolt so he just did the same, "Pikachu hold your ground". Pikachu braced for the attack. Pikachu held for a few seconds before he was pushed back because of the intensity of the attack.

The attack finally ceased with Pikachu still standing and determined, but with some obvious damage taken.

"_We can't beat them brute power or speed, so we have have to create some momentum"_. "Pikachu use quick attack into iron tail and keep up the assault" yelled out the trainer. Pikachu did what exactly his trainer told him and it quickly closed the gap between the two pokemon with a hard as steel tail loaded up.

The purple haired trainer though calmly directed his pokemon, "Use your own Iron tail and keep Pikachu out of range". In an instant Pikachu closed in and both pokemon started to fence with their tails; Pikachu trying to find an opening and Raichu denying any such opening.

The struggle continued on for a couple of sequences and ended with Pikachu pushed back, without gaining any momentum, and clearly tired. Raichu on the other hand stood confidently. "Now use thunder" directed the purple haired trainer. Raichu charged up and launched a powerful lighting strike, much more powerful than Pikachu's thunderbolt. The raven haired trainer called out with a hint of nervousness, "Pikachu use thunder too" Pikachu countered with his own powerful Thunder attack.

Both attacks collided midway and there was a moment of resistance from both forces, then both attacks collapsed onto each other and created a powerful explosion. Smoke covered the field for few moments until it dissipated revealing the battle field again. Pikachu was breathing heavily while Raichu looked like it had taken little to no damage.

_"I know Pikachu's tired but Raichu has to be reaching his limit too, Pikachu might break its defense with an Iron tail if he puts all of his energy to it". _"Pikachu, Iron tail and put everything behind this one." "Pika!" responded the electric mouse pokemon as he charged at Raichu at full speed.

The purple haired trainer just smirked at this, _"I knew he would mess up, dumbass"_ "Raichu, grab that". Pikachu jumped in the air and performed a summersault in midair then came down hard with his Iron Tail, looking to do some serious damage. But Raichu never flinched, and at the last second he grabbed the Pikachu's steel hard tail.

Both Pikachu and trainer were shocked, their mouths agape. The purple haired trainer wasted no time though, "Mega Kick!" "Raichu!" sneered the beige pokemon at Pikachu, and then continued to throw the helpless Pikachu in the air only to come back around and send a roundhouse kick into the Pikachu's small body. The force of the mega kick sent Pikachu skidding across the battle field, leaving a small trench behind.

When Pikachu finally stopped, he rose up slowly and all bruised up. "Pikachu are you okay!" called out the trainer worried. "Pi-pi-pika" answered the Pikachu obviously hurt but still determined to battle. "Raichu finish this with thunder puch!" called out the trainer relentlessly. Raichu reacted quickly and closed the distance between him and Pikachu with a fist covered in electricity.

"Pikachu get out of there!" yelled the raven haired trainer. It took Pikachu a moment to realize he was in trouble, and then he quickly jumped high in the air trying to avoid the attack, but the purple haired trainer and Raichu would not let them off that easy.

"Raichu, follow Pikachu and end this with thunderpunch". Raichu then stopped on a dime and jumped with Pikachu, and much to Pikachu's surprise reached a higher point than him in the air.

"Raichuuu!" cried the orange rodent like pokemon as he slammed his right fist covered in electricity square into Pikachu's body. "Pikaaa!" squealed Pikachu as he was sent crashing back down to earth and landed with a loud and gut wrenching crash.

Raichu came back down to earth soon after landing on all fours with an arrogant smirk. "Well that should do it" stated the purple haired trainer simply.

But much to the surprise of the Raichu and his trainer, Pikachu started to get up and released a large amount of electricity, trying to force itself to continue. "No! We're not done. We won't give up. Pikachu use volt tackle!" called out the trainer with force. At his trainer's command Pikachu began to charge at Raichu, then became was surrounded by a golden electricity.

But the purple haired trainer seemed to not be worried, "hmph, fine then, Raichu use volt tackle". Raichu proceeded to go into his own reckless electric tackle.

Both Pokemon collided mid field, and for a second they both struggled to take down the other until Raichu overwhelmed Pikachu and sent the small rodent like Pokemon flying thru the air. Seeing that his friend was helpless the raven haired trainer went after him and caught him in the air saving him from a hard fall.

"Pikachu, are you alright" asked the trainer caringly. "Pika" answered the Pokemon weakly. "Don't worry buddy, I'll take you to Prof. Oak and get you healed.

"That was pathetic", called out the seemingly disgruntled trainer even though he was victorious in battle. "You need to evolve that Pikachu of yours; you're wasting its potential if you allow it to stay as a Pikachu" stated the trainer looking at both the raven haired trainer and the Pikachu in his arms.

"Seriously, how was someone like you able to do anything in the Pokemon League?" Ash stared at Paul and his anger started to build up tremendously. "I wouldn't force Pikachu or any other of my Pokemon to do something they didn't want. Pikachu is my friend, like all my other Pokemon."

Ever since paul had moved to pallet town, ever since Paul had moved into the house, ash has gotten more frustrated in battles and just in general. His attitude was just so negative, and he definitely did not agree on his style as a Pokemon trainer, nor did he appreciate him insulting his him and his ability as a trainer, and Paul was just plain unpleasant.

"You keep talking about friends", started Paul, "Tell me have your friends helped reach your goal" Ash just stared at Paul, "You're not any close to your goal of becoming a Pokemon master. Making friends will only hold you back. The concept that being friends with your pokemon can help you become stronger is naïve."

"That's not true!" said ash strongly, "my friends have helped me so much they've-", "helped you what? Win the pokemon league, reach the elite four, beat the champion?"

Ash was taken aback a bit, then Paul continued "Is that what they've done, every time we have battled I have deafeted you. If what you say is true then why do you keep losing. The only Pokemon worth catching are strong ones, so that they can become stronger and I can become stronger, I want to become the strongest. That's it there is no need to become emotionally attached." Paul began turning back towards the house, "Sigh, I'm tired of this, I'm leaving."

"Wait!" Yelled Ash, "come back here I'm not done!", "Well I am" answered Paul right back.

Paul made his way back to the house with Ash trailing behind yelling and ticked off. _"Why won't he just shut up already, he's so damn annoying."_

Paul entered the back door of the house with Ash still trailing right behind, still not shutting up.

"Hi Paul" Paul was greeted by an older woman wearing a blue dress with a yellow top and pink sweater, "how was your training with Ash sweetie". Paul was caught off guard a bit by the greeting than quickly answered "fine" and looked the other way.

Ash then entered the house and was still obviously irritated. "Oh Ash sweetie how did your training go." "Just great" he said, barely trying to hide the sarcasm in his voice.

Delia looked at her two boys, well, they were not really boys, more like young men. Delia ketchum had lived in the small town of Pallet for most of her life. She owns Pallet's town most famous (and only) restaurant.

She loved the two young men that stood in front of her, they were her boys, blood related or not. Ash, the raven haired trainer, was wearing a red and black hat with a half pokeball design on the front. He wore a blue sweatshirt with short black sleeves, light blue jeans, black and blue shoe. His skin was tanned and his hair was messy, but maybe his most notable feature was his deep auburn eyes.

Paul was around the same age as Ash. He wore a blue and black sweater over a dark colored shirt, gray pants, and blue and black shoes. His skin was not pale but was not too dark either. He had black eyes and purple hair. Paul had an air of seriousness all the time, no matter the situation.

"Mrs. Ketchum" started Paul, "may I go outside to the town, there are some things I would like to do". "Of course Paul, just make sure you're back in time for dinner, but you don't have to be so formal about it." "Uh yeah, thank you Mrs. Ketchum."

Paul then quickly left, leaving behind Ash, still clearly upset. Delia tried to ignore Ash since she knew why he was so mad and she really did not want to talk about it again and she was busy, but a few seconds later she gave in, "what's wrong Ash sweetie". "What's wrong? Mom I can't stand him, he's so negative, he keeps insulting me and he's just unpleasant."

"Ash" Delia began, "I told you already, you have to try to get along with Paul. Were all living under the same roof and he's part of the family now, so you have to treat him as one of the family. He may be a bit tough to get along with but you know he has had it tough; you have to be aware of that. I'm sure if you make the effort he will get become more open and you'll be able to get along".

Ash looked at the door as if expecting Paul to come through the door. "I don't know, how can you be sure?" Delia sighed, "just call it a hunch," she then looked at Pikachu, "anyway it looks like you should take Pikachu to professor Oak." Ash was snapped out of his thoughts, "Oh, I'm really sorry buddy we'll get you better in no time". Ash quickly left for the door, "I gotta go mom I'll see you later". "Be back in time for Dinner" Delia called out as ash left, quickly heading for professors Oak lab with Pikachu in his arms.

* * *

Ash entered professors Oak's lab, "Oak! I need your help, Pikachu got banged up, can you heal him!?" Ash called out but got no response. He made his way throughout Oak's place but couldn't find him in any of his various rooms including the room where he first met Pikachu, Ash still clearly remembered that day. He quickly removed himself from memory lane and went back to looking for Oak. Seeing Oak was nowhere to be found he thought he might be in the ranch.

Ash stepped out of the backdoor and began to look for Oak. Ash then heard some rustling at one of the bushes at the side of the path. Ash neared the bush to figure out who or what was making the rustling when out a person jumped out of the bush and knocked Ash to the ground with Pikachu still held tightly in his arms. "Hey! What was that about" Ash grimaced a bit as he got back up. He then saw it was Tracey, a Pokemon sketcher, Oak's assistant, and one of Ash's close friends.

"Oh hey Ash, sorry about that, I might have startled a few Pokemon and they didn't appreciate it, still got a lot to learn" Tracey got up as well dusting himself off. "It's okay, I was just looking for Oak have you seen him?" "He's not at the lab?" Tracey thought for a bit, "He must be deeper in the ranch, why you need him so ba- oh, I see Pikachu looks hurt." "Yeah Pikachu has been better". "Hey I'll help you heal him." "Really!?" ash looked surprise. "Yeah" Tracey started, "Oak has been teaching me about all of this stuff, even treating Pokemon, and he allowed me to treat injured Pokemon using the equipment inside just last week, let's go".

Ash followed Tracey to the lab where the Pokemon sketcher began to treat Pikachu with the different equipment available. "Pikachu will be fine, he just took a bit too many strong hits. I'm guessing this happened in a battle between you and Paul, how has it been lately with him?" Tracey continued to work on Pikachu who was laid out on a table. "Well, I guess you could say it hasn't gone too well, it's just that I can't stand him." "Well you can't expect everything to happen overnight, I'm sure you'll guys will find a way to coexist and not be at each other's throat all the time."

Ash thought about this for a few seconds, then decided not to focus on it right now, "Ya, sure" he simply responded. "Hey isn't Oak taking a long time to come back, maybe whatever he's doing he needs some help. How about I look for him while you take care of Pikachu?" "Sure thing" Tracey responded, "sounds like a good idea". "Hey buddy" Ash kneed down to get close to Pikachu, "I'll be back soon, Tracey will take care of everything. Thanks Tracey I'll see you later."

Ash made his way deeper into the ranch. As he went down the path he began to notice how his Pokemon and Paul's Pokemon, who were barely brought here a week ago, were interacting. In the skies Ash's flying type Pokemon, which included Staraptor, Swellow, and Gliscor were speeding through the skies racing competing against Paul's flying Pokemon, which included Honchcrow, Paul's own Gliscor, and ninjask. Ash continued on the path and he came up near the lake, where he found his Infernape and Paul's Electivire sparring, though because it was very intense it looked more like a real battle.

Ash decided to go up a small hill with a single large tree on top of it. Once he reached the top he could see a large open field. In the middle of the field he saw his own torterra engaged in a competiton of strength with Paul's Torterra. Both Pokemon tried to push the other back with neither giving an inch. "Those two Pokemon are very powerful, obviously well trained" Ash heard an older sounding voice behind him and found Professor Oak behind him, sitting on the grass and leaning on the sole tree wearing his usual red shirt, light brown pants, and his lab coat. He also was wearing a brown hat which he tipped up to look at Ash. "Hello Ash, I was just relaxing a bit and admiring the area."

"Oh, well you were gone for a while so I thought I would come here and see If you needed help with anything, also I went to the lab because I needed your help to treat Pikachu." Oak became alerted, "Pikachu is hurt!?", "It's okay, Tracey took care of it." Oak seemed to relax again, "Ah well that's great, yes Tracey is an intelligent young man, I bet it won't be long till he goes on his own again and creates his own future in the world of Pokemon. He has been a huge help here though."

The sun started to set, giving off a light orange glow. "Well, I guess I have been out here a while" Oak began to get up, "I still do have things to do, let's get back to the lab". "Sure thing Oak." As they made their way back to the lab Oak began to talk, "I'm pretty sure you noticed that things have changed around here" Ash just nodded, "It was more peaceful here for the Pokemon, they were more relaxed, but since Paul's Pokemon have arrived things have gotten intense, there isn't a dull moment between them. I really think it's a good thing for your Pokemon, sure they always have trained while they stayed here but now not only do they train but they have become more determined than ever to become stronger."

"Ya I think your right, still I can't Paul, and I can't stand how he treats Pokemon." Oak looked up to the sky "Ash everybody has their own way achieving their goals. Your goals and Paul's goals are not much different, even though you may not agree how he goes about it. I've seen him train, catch pokemon, and I've seen him battle. He certainly has a cruel streak and his process may not be ideal but you must be able to accept all kinds of trainers. You must also understand a person before you judge them. I'm sure one day you two will be able to understand each other and both of you will grow stronger, not only as trainers but as people.

Ash took a glance at Oak then looked straight ahead, still deep in thought and going over what Oak said, yet he was not exactly sure what he meant and he did not believe he would ever understand Paul, though he kept that to himself.

Both Oak and Ash entered the lab where Pikachu was waiting. Ash thanked Tracey for taking care of Pikachu and proceeded to leave the lab with his buddy Pikachu. "Hey Pikachu" ash began as they walked back home in the quiet evening, "do you think me and Paul will ever be friends, I mean I hate him and he hates me, but we are living in the same place so I need to figure something out."

Pikachu just walked quietly next to his trainer. "Hey you remember when we first found out about him, it was out of the blue and mom didn't give us any warning at all, it was really a surprise. I guess in her defense we were coming back from Unova."

* * *

Flashback

"Hey mom I'm home! And I'm starving" Ash said hungrily. "Ash honey I'm in the living room." Ash made his way quickly to the living room where he found his mom, but to his surprise he also found a purple haired boy he did not recognize who was about his age.

"Oh Ash your home, I missed you so much" Delia hugged Ash leaving him with little air to breath. When she finally let go ash began, "I missed you too mom, but…" Ash paused for a second, "mom who's this".

"Oh yes, Ash this is Paul, he is going to stay with us for now", Ash had to process the information, then with a blank face "Wait, what?"

"Ash, Paul us part of the family now, you could say he is your brother now." "Whaaaaaat!?" Ash stepped back in shock and tripped, falling over and crashing to the floor hard. He then heard what he could only think was Paul's voice, "well that was pathetic" and that was the last thing he remembered happening that day.

End Flashback

* * *

"Well that was something else." Ash stopped at his mother's house and looked at it for a while. "I guess the easy way out of this would be to travel again, but I haven't thought about it yet. Well I guess I'll figure it out when the time comes." Ash entered the house and was met with the delicious smell of his mother's cooking. That evening was the same as all the other evenings recently, a quiet dinner and a simple night. Ash went to his room while Paul went to his with neither saying a word to the other. The Pallet night sky was clear and calm and the small town of Pallet went to sleep.

**And there we go; Pika-Bones is done with this chapter.**

**Did you like it?  
Did you dislike it?  
Was it meh?  
Please review if you are so inclined and tell me what you think, your reviews are greatly appreciated.**

**Also favorite and follow if you enjoyed, your support is greatly appreciated as well. So that's it from me, hope to see you next time, Peace! **


	2. New Region, New Mission

**Road to Becoming a Pokemon Master, With My Brother?**

**Hello ladies and gentlemen, Pika-Bones is back with a new chapter of "Road to Becoming a Pokemon Master, With My Brother?" (Long title I know, couldn't think of much else at the time) Just wanted to thank you to those that showed their support on the first chapter. I also appreciate the reviews that you guys gave, your feedback is important.**

**There was a couple of questions some of you left in the last chapter and that I should probably address:  
1) Will there be a shipping including Paul?: Yes, well maybe, I am definitely planning something for Paul, wouldn't be fair to let Ash have all the fun. I want it to keep it a secret for now though, still I'm not sure how long it will take me to introduce the new character. **

**2) How will Reggie fit into all of this: I honestly never thought about it. Well I guess I have, but I never thought of inserting him into the story. I might still find some way to include him but then again I might not. I might just say he never met him or he never had another brother. If I don't include him then feel free to call it a cop out because it kind of is. I'm sorry if you wanted to see Reggie in the story and I can understand why. Reggie in this story could make it more interesting, but also more complicated. **

** Now enough with my rambling, without further ado let's begin chapter 2! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 2: New Mission, New Region **(rhyming accidently)**

The sun rays crept in through the blinders and shined on Ash's face. After a moment of tossing and turning Ash opened his eyes and sat up in bed. He let out a long yawn before getting out of bed. Pikachu also began to wake at the sound of his trainer getting out of bed. "Piii-kaaa" yawned the yellow mouse Pokemon. "Hey buddy, looks you slept well." Ash left his room and made his way to the bathroom where he washed up. After quickly washing up, he left the bathroom and was quickly hit with the tasty aroma of his mother's cooking.

Ash made his way downstairs to the kitchen with Pikachu following right behind. Ash found the table packed with food while Paul and Delia seated as well. "Well boys dig in" Delia stated in her usual cheerful voice. Ash wasted no time and began to devour the food like a machine. While Paul slowly sipped his tea and took small bites every once and while, and at the same time he read a small book in his other hand.

"Oh Ash, Professor Oak called earlier this morning, he says he wants to see later today." Ash responded with a mouthful of food, "Sure thing mom". "Oh and Paul he also said he wanted to talk to you as well" Delia turned towards Paul. "Sure I'll go, thank you", Paul simply responded, not taking his eyes of the book. Other than that breakfast was uneventful.

Ash and Paul both left for Oak's lab at the same time and Ash felt like he should say something to break the silence. "Hey Paul do you ever spend time with your Pokemon, you know when you're not training."

Paul answered without looking at Ash, "No, it's a waste of time." "Well it could help you if you connect with your Pokemon don't you think?" "Like I said, no, now shut up, the only thing spending time with your Pokemon does is make you weak."

"Hey, hold on a second" Ash reached out and grabbed Paul's jacket, which would turn out to be a mistake.

* * *

"Uggh" is the only thing Ash could mutter as he laid on the pavement. The only thing he remembered happening is grabbing Paul's jackect then the next thing he knew his world was turned upside down. He stood up still rubbing his head where he hit the pavement. "Grrr, Paul's going to pay for this" Ash angrily muttered. It didn't seem like much time passed so he continued walking gingerly to Oak's lab.

* * *

"Oh hello Paul, I'm glad you're here, uh didn't Ash come with you?" "No, why, it's not like we come in a pair" Oak was a bit surprised by the sudden response but decided to change the subject. "Well that's fine I'll just get him caught up when he comes. Now onto what I wanted to talk to you about", Oak lead Paul to his main lab room.

"Wait here a second" Oak went towards a medium sized picture frame hanged on the wall across the room. The picture was of him and his grandson, Gary Oak, fishing at a nearby lake just outside of Pallet. He removed the frame and thus revealed a safe installed into the wall. Paul managed to raise an eyebrow at this, breaking his usually poker face.

Oak unlocked the safe and took out a small briefcase. He took out a key from his pocket and unlocked it, revealing two strange objects. One of the objects was a perfectly round, multi colored object around the size of a pokeball. Right next to it was another multi colored sphere with a double helix shape in the center, but it was half the size of the other object. Oak carried it and placed it on a table between Paul and himself.

"What are those" asked Paul somewhat curious. "The thing is, I don't know, this is out of my expertise as a scientist. These two objects were found here in Kanto. From what I heard and read from professor Sycamore, a professor who hails from the Kalos region, is that they are rare objects, they both are connected to one another, and they have something to do with evolution, but from there I can only speculate about them. The larger one is supposedly called a mega stone and the smaller one is a keystone."

Oak then looked at Paul "What I want you and Ash to do is take these to Kalos and deliver them to professor Sycamore. I talked to Sycamore and he will be expecting you. We agreed that this would be the best way, we need strong trainers like you and Ash to deliver them since you can protect them, because there is no doubt there are others that would love to get their hands and these two objects. It would be too dangerous to send them any other way. So Paul can I tru-". "Paul!" an angry cry could be heard from downstairs.

Ash came up the stairs, his eye twitching with anger, "you're going to pay." "Ash my boy you're here, are you okay?" Ash didn't hear Oak at all as he approached Paul and swung with a powerful straight right headed towards Paul. Paul though showed his quickness as he evaded the strike, but Ash, still fuming, turned back around and swung again, but Paul with a straight face side steeped it. Ash, still relentless went after Paul a third time, but Oak stepped in and stopped Ash.

"Let me go! I'm going to break his face!" "Ash calm down! There will be no fighting in my lab." "Wait? That was a fight? All he did was hit the air" Paul just smirked. "All right that's it you're dead, get over here" Ash began to flail around as Oak tried to calm him down.

The commotion was so loud that the Pokemon in Oak's ranch could hear it, though they did not think much of it and went on with their business.

* * *

"So do both of you understand" Oak continued, "this is an important job, there is a good chance that you will make it to Kalos without an issue, but you must be vigilant, careful, and prepared, you never know what may happen".

"If that's the case are you sure you want this mankey to come along". "Hey! Who you calling a Mankey. Anyways if there's anybody who we should be worried about it's you. You've only been here a few weeks." "Ash" Oak cut in, "I've seen enough from Paul to see that he is trust worthy and more than capable of carrying out this task." He then turned to Paul "And Paul, I've known Ash for a long time, and even though he messes up occasionally", "Hey! Who's side are you on" Oak continued on despite the interruption, "he is trust worthy and one of the strongest trainers I've seen on a battlefield at his best". Paul's expression did not change a bit at this, but Ash did not miss the comment.

"Well thanks Professor, I always knew you thought highly of me" he pointed at himself arrogantly. "He is also hard-headed, impatient, and at his worst struggles to defeat a beginning trainer with a level 5 Snivy." "Oak! You said you'd never bring that up." Oak turned his back at him, "Well I just did." Oak turned back around and continued, "Now, there's one more thing I wanted to tell you. If you leave as soon as possible both of you should have enough time to collect all 8 badges in the Kalos gym challenge and compete in the Pokemon League, so the question is, are both of you up to it?"

Ash's auburn eyes lit up and a small smile appeared "what do you think?" Paul stood up, "Hm, looks like that's something that we both can agree on. But take note of this, I'll win and be one step closer to becoming a Pokemon master, and nothing is going to stop me, especially not you" Paul looked at Ash intently. "We'll see about that. I'll never lose to you again" Ash responded right back.

"Well I guess that settles it" Oak slipped in, breaking up the staring match. "Now go on and tell your mother that you're going to Kalos to run an errand for me, I'm confident she will since she'll probably see how fired up both of you are. If there's any heat to be taken I'll take it. Now go off boys, a new adventure awaits and like I said, be careful".

"Thanks Oak, we'll keep on touch" Ash ran out of the lab. "Yes, thank you professor" Paul gave a slight bow and walked out. "See you boys! Come back tomorrow so I can give you the stones."

* * *

"Oh my" Delia was preparing dinner when Ash and Paul told her of their new plans. "So you're leaving again? Well I new you'd be off soon, just like your father when he was young, always on the move." Not much is able to grab Paul's attention, but this was the first time he heard any mention of Ash's father. He had wondered a couple of times about Ash's father but he never stated his curiosity out loud. He finally decided that it was none of his business.

"Well I guess if professor Oak needs your help it must be important, just be careful out there. But that means I'll need to make you some new clothes for your new journey."

"Thanks mom." Delia looked over at Paul, "Paul I could make some new clothes for you, would you like that". "No thank you, you've done enough for me already, I'm comfortable with my usual clothes." "Well I guess that's fine, now let's go eat."

After another great meal prepared by Delia, Ash went upstairs to prepare to leave tomorrow. Meanwhile, Delia and Paul were downstairs in the living room; Delia began working on Ash's new clothes while Paul read the same book he was reading yesterday while taking a sip of his tea in between pages. "I see your still on that book" Delia started, "you've been reading that book since you came here, is it good?" "Its fine, I guess you can say it's my favorite book" Paul didn't take his eyes of the book. He then looked at his tea then at Delia, "Mrs. Ketchum would you like a taste" Paul offered some of his tea to Delia. "Oh, that's okay Paul, I tasted it last week when it was on the stove, and I couldn't taste anything for a while after that, thank you though and you must be tough to be able to drink that." Paul looked at his tea, "I guess I got used to it".

There was an awkward silence after that. Then Delia decided to break the silence with something that was on her mind, "Paul, I just wanted to ask you something". Paul lowered his book down a bit. "I wanted to ask you a favor. When Ash first left for his journey, I was worried sick, he was going away without me there to protect him. It also didn't help knowing that he wasn't the sharpest boy out there. I knew that he really wanted to go out on see the world and be with Pokemon, and it took a lot of effort from me to let him go, but once I figured out that he had great friends with him, I felt more at ease." Delia took a deep breathe, and then continued, "What I'm saying is that I would like you to keep an eye on Ash. I want you both to be there for each other if things get tough. I'm not asking you to baby sit him, and I'm not telling you to travel with him either. Just keep an eye on him, make sure he's okay, be there for each other if things get tough."

Paul looked away and stared at nothingness for a few seconds before responding, "Sure thing Mrs. Ketchum, but there shouldn't be a problem, he may be stupid but Oak said he was capable, you shouldn't worry".

** Crash! **As Paul finished his sentence they both heard a loud crash at the staircase. They both went into the hallway to find Ash crumpled up at the base of the staircase. He was seeing stars and the room just kept spinning. "Ash! What happened?" Ash responded weakly, "I-I was getting ready for, tomorrow whe-when I realized I didn't have my pok-pokeballs. Apparently I le-left them at the top of the stairs an-and I tripped on them."

Paul looked at Ash on the floor "Never mind then, I'll be surprised if he makes it out of Pallet" Paul said with complete seriousness.

The rest of the evening went uneventful, but what Delia told Paul was still on his mind. He really didn't like Ash, but Delia was asking him to be there for Ash. He really didn't feel like he could do that. But Mrs. Ketchum had brought him into her home, it would be the least he could do he guessed, though once they finish delivering the mega stones to professor Sycamore he would go his own way.

Later that night the full moon shone brightly in a cloudless sky, and since Pallet is relatively far from the big cities and towns, the stars filled the night sky. Ash and Paul went to their beds while Delia finished working on Ash's new clothes. A new journey was about to begin.

* * *

The Sun came back as soon as it went brightning up the sky and waking the sleepy town of Pallet. There was a cool small breeze going through town, which signaled a possible change in weather.

Ash and Paul made quick work of getting up and getting ready for their departure to Kalos, with Ash it was more obvious, but even Paul seemed livelier.

"Ash, here I hope you love it", Delia handed Ash his new clothes and he quickly changed. The new clothes consisted of a blue short sleeved jacket with a white stripe design, black pants, red and black shoes, a plain black shirt, and a red cap with a white arc design on the front to top it all off. "Ash sweety, you're becoming a handsome young man." Ash was embarrassed a bit by the comment, especially with Paul around. "Paul sweetheart, are you sure you don't want anything new to wear." "No thank you" he responded simply.

"Well, then I guess that does, hurry along Oak is going to give you your tickets for the ship to Kalos." Delia gave Ash a hug before he went out, Paul then came up and Delia opened up her arms. Paul hesitated a bit before giving her a hug, which made Delia feel better and made Paul feel warm and fuzzy inside, a feeling he quickly began to try to shake off as he exited the house.

Delia stood at the doorway as Ash and Paul left, then she quickly remembered something "Ash!" she called out, "Don't forget to change your underwear!" "Mom! Stop doing that!" Ash answered. "Bye! Take care boys."

Ash and Paul made good time going to Oak's lab, and when they got there he was waiting for them with his briefcase. "Both of you ready" Oak greeted them. Both of them nodded, and then Oak took out both the mega stone and key stone, and gave the mega stone to Paul and the smaller key stone to Ash, "take care of them". He then took two tickets from his pocket and gave it to them, "These are the tickets for the ship to Kalos. It will leave from the Vermillion harbor; these tickets are good for a few days so you should have enough time to get there. Thank you again boys for doing this for me."

"No problem" Ash gave Oak a thumbs. "Yes, it's no problem at all" Paul gave a small nod. "Well then, you should get going, remember to call often." "Sure thing Oak, see you" Ash waved as both him and Paul started their trek to Vermillion city.

"Let's do this before I get sick of you" Ash made it clear how fond he was of Paul. "I'm not your biggest fan either, but sure let's do this quick, I don't want to be around your dumb ass any longer than I have to."

Both trainers now began their way to Vermillion and ultimately to Kalos, not knowing for sure what is in store for them in an unfamiliar region.

* * *

**And Done. Nice and powerful chapter.**

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**This has been Pika-Bones, peace!**


	3. Thunder Punch!

**Road to Becoming a Pokemon Master, With My Brother?**

** Hello ladies and gentlemen, Pika-Bones is back with a new chapter of "Road to Becoming a Pokemon Master, With My Brother?" Firstly I just wanted to thank you for your support, very much appreciated.**

**So shall we begin? I bring you chapter 3! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the pocket monsters (obviously)**

* * *

Chapter 3: Thunder Punch!

It was a beautiful sunny morning in Vermillion city with few clouds filling the sky. Paul and Ash entered the city; their journey so far had few interruptions. They made good time by powering through the few obstacles they had and only making a few quick stops and moving quickly and often. This was no sightseeing trip through Kanto, they were on a business trip.

"Let's get to the Pokemon center and get ready to board the ship." Paul instructed, "We have a couple of hours before the next ship leaves so that should give us some time". Ash and Pikachu both nodded and they headed towards the Pokemon Center.

Paul went to get a room for a couple of hours to clean up. "I'm going to call Oak" ash called out to Paul. "Do whatever you want" Paul answered without hesitation. Ash picked up the phone and dialed in the professor's number. After a few rings somebody picked up and Oak appeared on the screen, "Hello my boy, where are you? How have things been so far?" Oak asked Ash with a good amount of energy. "Where in Vermillion, things have been well, no trouble yet." "Pika pi" Pikachu followed up.

"That's great, you made it there already, you guys made quick work of it, the ship should be leaving in a couple of hours" Oaked looked at his watch while saying the last part, then out of nowhere Ash's Bayleef came from offscreen and took out Oak, "bay-bay-bayleef!" she cried.

"I miss you too Bayleef, don't worry I'll get you here with me so you can see Kalos alright?" Ash's words seemed to have calmed down Bayleef. "Heh, I was worried about telling her you left" Oak got up and dusted himself off and got back onto the screen. "Yay, I remembered on the way here that I forgot to tell them I was leaving" Ash became sad for a bit before Oak told him, "Don't worry Ash, your Pokemon understand, I told them were you were going and that you were in a hurry". "Thanks proffesor and Bayleef, tell the others I'll see them real soon." "Bayleef!" cried the leaf Pokemon and she quickly left for the Pokemon ranch.

"So how have things been with Paul" Oak asked. "The same I guess. We haven't talked much, which is probably a good thing" Ash answered with a hint of sadness. "Well I guess it can't be helped, but don't give up, like I said you two can become friends, no matter how different" Oak reassured Ash. _"Friends huh, I guess I haven't been trying as hard as I can, but is it worth the effort?"_ Ash was deep in thought until Oak brought him back. "Ash is everything alright" Oak asked worried. "I'm fine, and your right, I'll keep trying" he smiled at Oak to assure him. "Well then, good luck my boy, and take car. Thank you again for doing this favor for me, I appreciate it and thank Paul for me to." "Of course any time, bye" both waved at each other as the screen went black again.

* * *

After Paul washed up, Ash did the same. Then they got a quick bite at the cafeteria and left for the ship to Kalos. As they were walking to the harbor Ash broke the silence, "It looks like no one knows about the mega stones or they just don't care so far." Paul kept walking without answering, as a few things passed through his mind.

It had been true that they haven't run into any problems, but that didn't mean nobody wanted them. He remembered a few times while they were moving between cities that he felt uneasy, that something or someone was watching and following them. Maybe he was just paranoid, then again in the past his instincts have been good to him.

He finally responded to Ash's comment, "Well we can't let are guard down, the ocean liner to Kalos is still left. It seems quite a few people are going to board it, it might be the best place to snatch them".

"Sure, but they can't really jump us on the ship, can they?" Ash asked. Paul responded as they kept on walking, "With all the people, they could create a commotion, and in that commotion they could take the stones from us, and if they were just thieves in it for the profit, I wouldn't be surprised if they would try to make it a bigger catch by stealing the Pokemon as well. No matter, we just have to take care of them and be ready for anything."

They arrived at the harbor and found their ship. It was decent sized ship, It wasn't a luxury cruise ship by any means, but definitely not cheap. "Wow, didn't expect this, reminds of a boat I boarded when I came to Vermillion the first time, it didn't exactly go to well" Ash remembered the S.S. Anne and how everybody in the ship was jumped by Team Rocket. "Oh yeah, what happened?" Paul asked with the smallest hint of interest.

"We were jumped by team rocket, I traded my Butterfree, then traded for it back, we fought off team rocket, the ship sank and got caught on a ledge before going to the ocean floor, my friends I were still in the ship at that point, we escaped the ship, we became stranded in the ocean, a group of wild Gyrados showed up and attacked us with dragon rage, we were sent flying and landed on an island, we were separated from our Pokemon, we saw giant Pokemon 10 times their normal size, we ended up on a roller-coaster, we found our Pokemon, we were chased by the giant Pokemon, we were sent flying off the rollercoaster, the giant Pokmon turned out to be mechanical, we landed in the water, and then we finally made it back to civilization and found my mom and professor Oak at the beach" Ash took a deep breath of air after the mouthful of words.

Paul took all the information in, kept looking forward, and kept his poker face, "Seems legit".

* * *

There was a crowd waiting to board the ship. Ash and Paul were waiting at the edge of the crowd when Ash noticed somebody he thought he remembered. He entered the crowd pushing, shoving, and slithering his way through, "excuse me, coming through". Then all of the sudden the crowd of People opened up and Ash found who he was looking for, and sure enough it was her, his auburn eyes met her sapphire eyes, it was May.

Ash couldn't help but feel overjoyed to see his old friend, but something seemed different. She looked beautiful, for the first time in his life May just looked beautiful to him. He never felt like this before and he didn't know what he was feeling. She still looked like the person that he traveled with in Hoenn, but she was different in a way, more mature. She was wearing something different since the last time he saw her. She wore a red shoulder strap shirt over a black under shirt, white shorts over her black swimmer trunks, yellow, black, and red shoes, and she also rocked a new headband with the same design of her bandanna. She looked ready to dive into the water at any time.

"Ash! It is you, what are you doing here?" May walked up to Ash excitedly. It took ash a long second to respond since he was still lost in her Sapphire eyes, "Oh, um I'm running an errand for Mr. Oak, I'm also planning on entering the Kalos Pokemon league. I didn't expect to see you here either May." "Pika-pi" added Pikachu

"I missed you too Pikachu" May put her arm and shoulder out and Pikachu hopped on to her shoulder, "Your as cute as ever Pikachu" May giggled and gave ash one of her cute smiles that threatened break him, "It was sudden but apparently there's this group of sponsors in Kalos that want me to wear one of their original designs in one of my contest, I guess people are starting to recognize me as high level coordinator" she gave Ash a wink and a peace sign.

"That's great May, of course they would recognize you, you're the best coordinator I know." The compliment made May blush a bit.

May reached into her yellow bag and pulled half of a Pokemon contest ribbon. The center of the ribbon or more accurately half of the center was filled by a shining gold sun shaped symbol and it was completed by a pink and white stripped ribbon tied on the back, "Do you still have it Ash?"

Ash then took out the other half of the ribbon, "I always have it on me". They put the two halves together to complete the ribbon. The ribbon's age was evident, it worn and torn, but it still looked pleasant to the eye.

"So last I heard from you was last month" May began as they put away their halves of the ribbon, "you told me about you and your mom bringing someone new into the house hold, but you never got the chance to tell me more" May was curious to hear about Ash's brother.

"Yeah, well it went something like this" Ash was about to lie through his teeth, he wasn't sure why, maybe because he wanted to impress May or maybe because he just hated Paul, anyway this was how how was going to tell it, "I was in the viridian forest and it was pouring, as if Arceus wanted to wash all evil from the earth. I was racing to get home to see my loving mother once again, and that's when I heard it, a pour, desperate soul, sobbing, with nowhere to go, no one to care for him. I found him, dirty, lonely, and cold. I picked him up and carried him on my shoulders, all the way back to pallet, running and running, not stopping for anything even though I was exhausted" Ash paused for a second for dramatic effect, "I reached my mother's house, but she wasn't there, probably at a friend's house, stuck by the storm. So I carried him in to the house, fed him, clothed him, I even let him sleep in my bed, I stayed by his side 24/7 making sure he was okay, protected him, but he turned out to be an arrogant, ungrateful brat, who has no respect for Pokemon or people…"

Unbeknownst by Ash, Paul had found him in the crowd and was standing right behind him, somehow making his presence unknown to both of them. Paul stood nonchalantly for a while listening to Ash before deciding to bring the hammer down. Paul's left hand descended onto Ash's head and put his story to an abrupt end.

"You fed me huh" Paul put more weight onto Ash's head, "dumbass, you can't even boil water" Paul didn't scream or yell, he had a small smile but his anger could be heard in his words. "Paul, wai-". "And who was crying" Paul did not let Ash go, "because the biggest cry baby I know is you". "Paul, wait I'm sor-sorry" Ash began pleading because it hurt so much. "Ungrateful brat? I can tell you who's ungrateful."

"Hello, my name is Paul" Paul then turned his attention to May, without letting Ash go. "When I returned to Kanto from Sinnoh after the Pokemon league, I decided to visit the orphanage I spent most of my life in" Paul's anger was still drilling Ash into the ground and May was staring in confusion, "but unknown to me they closed it down, so those who worked with the orphanage figured that I was still too young to live on my own without anybody to supervise me, provide foe me, etc. So Mrs. Ketchum learned about me and welcomed me into her home with open arms and has done all I can ask from her. Ash here though was quite upset when he learned of me."

"I was not upset, I was shocked, huge difference" Ash was only able to muster until he passed out. "Well it was nice to meet you, what was your name again?" Paul asked way too nicely. "Um, May, May Maple" she was sweating a bit and her eye was twitching, this situation was definitely freaking her out now. "May, nice name, well looks like it's time to board the ship, after you" since they had started talking, the crowd had disappeared onto the boat. "Uh, thanks" May could only say that much as she boarded the boat.

"Come on, we have to get on" Paul told Ash, half expecting him to get up.  
"Really!? great now I have to drag your dumb ass on" Paul grabbed hold of Ash's collar and dragged him on board.

"What?" Paul asked one of the ship's attendants who was looking at Ash "He's fine". He found their room and he tossed ash on to the bed and left him there. 15 minutes later the ship set sail for Kalos, it would be a 3 day ride.

* * *

Ash came to a couple of hours later and felt groggy. He got up and took in his surroundings "wait, I'm on the ship?' Ash then remembered what had happened before, _"Oh yeah, that."_

Then, the door to the cabin opened up and Paul entered. He quickly went into the bathroom. "Hey, Paul I just want to tell you something. I'm sorry." Ash could here Paul in the bathroom washing up.

Paul then came out, "sorry about what? What happened on the harbor? There's no reason to be sorry". Ash seemed confused, "but I lied and I made you look like somebody you're not".

"It doesn't really matter, it's not like were friends, this is just a business trip were unfortunately I need to carry your sorry butt around. Anyways I'm not like you, I'm used to nobody having my back. See you" Paul left the cabin.

That last comment made Ash feel worse. How can somebody can live their life with nobody there for them. Paul was right; Ash had never felt alone in the world, there was always somebody backing him up, someone who cared. He looked at his pal Pikachu who was sleeping on the bed. What he did was wrong, no matter how much he despised Paul.

Ash paced around the cabin, deep in thought for a while. He was also trying to shake off the beating Paul gave him earlier. His head had a decent sized bump, so he put some ice on it, though it was kind of late for that now. _"One things for sure, I didn't expect him to be so strong" _he thought as he sat down and kept the ice on his head.

Then a light knock on the door made brought Ash back from his thoughts. He put away the ice, put his hat back on, and opened the door. It was May, and Ash quickly felt better by just seeing her, though he was still upset at himself. "Hi May" Ash said softly. May returned his greeting with a small smile, "Hi Ash, I saw Paul earlier and he told me you I could find you here, just wanted to see if you were okay". "Thanks May."

Then an awkward silence followed, Ash couldn't find anything to say and it seemed as May couldn't say what was on her mind, they avoided each other's eyes and looked in all different directions. May finally broke the silence, "You want to go for a walk on the deck, it's a beautiful night." "Sure thing" Ash began, then he realized what she said about it being nighttime, "wait its night already? I guess I was in that cabin longer than I thought".

"Ya" May giggled, "It's pretty late actually; most of the passengers are sleeping already."

"Well let's not waste any moonlight, let's go" Ash said enthustically.

They walked around the boat, mostly in silence, then they arrived on the front of the ship. May was right, it was a beautiful night. The sea was calm and the moon and stars lit up the darkness of night, and May, well she looked beautiful in the moonlight.

First Ash felt like he needed to apologize, "May, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lied to you, I don't know what got into me, it was stupid. I'm supposed to be trying to be Paul's friend". May looked at Ash "it's okay, I'm going to guess both of you are not too fond of each other which is understandable, but maybe you're going at it the wrong way. Ash, you're probably the easiest guy to be friends with. If you just be yourself you can befriend anyone, you've been doing it since you began traveling. You don't even have to try."

Ash was surprised at what May told him, and the more he thought of it, the more it seemed true, but something still bugged him, he knew Paul never really had a family, so maybe being friends wasn't enough, maybe he needed to be more than just a friend to try to get through to Paul, but what did that mean?

"I tried to apologize but I think I really upset him, even though he says he doesn't care and he doesn't show it. He also said something that made me feel lucky to have you and everybody else I know as a friend, the world is unforgiven, must be tough to have to go through it alone. I have to make it up to him, somehow, but I have no idea, he kind of shuts everybody out for the most part."

"Don't worry Ash; I'm sure you will find a way. You might be careless when it comes to other people's feelings sometimes" Ash was about to object but May cut him off with a single finger to the lips, "but ultimately, you're a kind and caring person who puts others well-being in front of his own, be it Human or Pokemon."

The moment May's finger touched Ash's lip, his heart got logged in his throat and no words could come out. "Ash how's your head." Ash swallowed hard and managed to get out a barely audible, "It's fine".

"Can I check?" before Ash could answer May took of his hat and put her hand on his head, "Oh, I can feel the bump, it's small though, it should go down soon". May continued to play with Ash's hair and he was as frozen as a statue and as red as a flopping Magikarp. No one had ever touched him like this and his heart raced faster than his fastest Pokemon, but for some reason he was just focused on May's sapphire eyes.

"I have to tell you something" May began, "I've been trying to build up the courage to tell you this for the longest time, but I could never, but now seems like the perfect moment".

"What is it?" Ash managed to throw out there, he really didn't know.

She was finally going to do it; she was going to tell Ash how she felt. She let her raw emotions take over, it was as if some part of her had enough of waiting, took the controls, and was about to tell Ash for her.

* * *

Paul came back to the cabin around the same time Ash left with May. He entered the cabin and saw that Ash wasn't there, "Where is he? His friend mouse is here. Is the key stone here?" he searched for the mega stone in the cabin but he could not find it, _"He must have it on him"_. He exited the cabin and looked for Ash around the ship, _"I swear, if he loses that stone I will throw him of this ship, into the ocean, and have the sharpedo eat him. And I don't care if there is no Sharpedo in these waters, I will find a Sharpedo to feed him to."_

Paul made it to the bow of the ship and right before he turned the corner, his eye caught Ash and May at the railings, _"What the hell are they doing here?"_

* * *

"What I need to tell you is" May neared her face to Ash, with Ash still lost in her eyes, "I lo-"

"Kaboom!"there was a loud explosion coming from somewhere on the ship and the ship rocked for a couple of seconds before settling down. "What was that!?" Ash broke eye contact with May. May stepped back nervously, _"Wait, was I really about to say that?"_May quickly covered her mouth with her hands,_ "Oh no I think I did, there's no way he didn't pick that up"._

The ship began to come to the stop and smoke began to come out from somewhere. "I wonder what happened." Ash then saw from a large yellow Pokemon with black stripes, two tails, and red eyes came down onto the deck. "Electavire!"

"It's an electivire" Ash whispered to himself. Then from behind the Electivire, 4 strange men appeared, all of them wearing black. Then the one in the front spoke up, "Give us the key stone boy, and nobody gets hurt" his voice was not deep, but it was an assertive voice. "Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about" Ash said innocently.

"Don't play with us boy, we know professor Oak gave you that key stone, now hand it over. It's simple, you give it to us and we leave you and your friend here alone, deal." The man in black gestured towards Ash.

"Ash, what are they talking about" May asked worried. "You know about that errand I'm running for Mr. Oak, this might have something to do with it" Ash whispered.

"We already got the mega stone from that other trainer that has been traveling with you" he took out the mega stone Paul had and showed it to Ash. Ash took a step back, "Wait! How do you have that. Paul was taking care of it."

_"What the hell! How do they have that, I had it in my bag the whole time, I never left it anywhere, except…" _Paul then remembered being challenged to a battle by another trainer at the battlefields on board. He accepted the challenge, and in result he left his bag on one of the benches, _"Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!" _Paul banged his head with his hand. _"Why did I even accept that stupid challenge, and why would I do something like that, I would never do anything that careless."_

"It was quite easy actually, the poor kid looked distraught, he got careless and it was easy from their" the leader of the group arrogantly played with the mega stone in his hand.

_"Distraught! What does he mean I looked distraught, I don't care what anybody thinks of me, especially not Ash."_

Ash grounded his teeth, "Well looks like that I'm going have to fight them off" Ash reached for his Pokeballs and May followed his lead.

"Oh no, we can't have that around here now can we?" The leader took out from his coat a metallic disc and activated it. It suddenly caused Ash's and May's pokeballs to escape their grasp, "hey! what the?" the Pokeballs floated away from their owners and landed in the hands of the men in the black coats. "Thank you very much for your donations. I love this thing, it's made specifically to attract pokeballs, makes our job much easier. Put these with the others."

Ash then realized that the other 3 men all had bags and that they must be filled with other pokeballs. Ash clenched his fist, "So I guess your all in it for the profit huh. You make me sick. Willing to separate trainer from Pokemon for a profit, what kind of heart do you have".

"That's very nice kid, but I'm losing patience, you lost, hand over the key stone, somebody's going to give us a pretty penny for it" he demanded simply.

_"Looks like I need to step in just need to…"_ Paul reached for his pokeballs, there was nothing their _"I left them with Nurse Joy…"_ Paul proceeded to curse himself out, _"I really hate myself right now"_.

Paul shook his head violently _"never mind that now, I need to find a way to get those mega stones and pokeballs back. I need to catch Ash's attention first". _Paul began to wave his arms, trying to get Ash's attention.

"I'm waiting boy, give up the key stone or I'll have to get electavire here to take it." _"Come on, there has to be something I can do."_ It was then when Ash saw Paul waving his arms, _"What the hell are you doing"_. Then their eyes met and somehow Ash knew exactly what Paul wanted him to do. "Hey you want this stupid rock so bad" Ash took the key stone from his sweater, "go fetch" Ash threw the mega stone high and far into the night sky towards the other side of the ship. This surprised everybody, except Paul.

"Electivire! go get the mega stone" yelled out the leader of the thieves. Electivire quickly obeyed and chased after it.

"Ash, now!" In an instance Paul and Ash bolted from their current position and rushed the thieves. They were taken off guard and both trainers had a shot to take out their target.

_"Almost there!" _both of them thought simultaneously then, _"Dammit!" _Both of them got their feet tangled up as they crossed each other's path and they both hit the floor.

"What are you doing! You were supposed to go after the guys with the pokeballs!" Paul yelled at Ash. "No, you were supposed to go for the guys with the pokeballs, I was going for the mega stone you lost!"

They were both at each other throats, then the deck shook, "Crap!" Electivire was back. "Thank you Electivire" Electivire threw the key stone to the leader, and the Electivire began to walk closer to Ash, Paul, and May, "now would you be so kind as to show these three the exit, send them flying with your Thunder punch, make sure their no longer a nuisance."

"Uh, guys any ideas" May asked nervously. Electivire charged up its electricity, "I'm out of ideas; it's been a rough day" Paul said simply. Electivire cocked its arm back, "I've got one". Electivire striked at the three, when without warning Ash jumped right in between Electivire's Thunder punch, and Paul and May.

Electivire's fist impacted Ash's lower back and sent 100,000+ volts through Ash's body, "arrrgh!".

"Ash, No!" yelled May as she tried to reach for Ash, but the sparks from the thunder punch didn't allow her to get close enough. Paul's eyes widened, _"What are you doing? You're taking a direct Thunder punch to your body."_

_ "Tch, is he stupid or something" _the lead thieve thought to himself.

"Pa-pa-paul! Now!" Ash struggled to send his message to Paul. _"Wait, is he doing this to give me an opening" _Paul quickly reacted and once again charged the 4 men.

"What, again! Stop him" demanded the lead thieve. "Yes sir" The thieves began to reach for their own Pokeballs, but they never had a chance to use them.

Paul reached the middle thieve and shoulder tackled him, "arrrgh!" The thieve was launched backwards and was sent into the railings where he was knocked out, causing him to release the bag of Pokeballs and littering the floor with the red and white capsules.

"Get him!" The thieves began to surround Paul. He quickly reached for the nearest Pokeball to him. _"GO! Please be something decent" _Paul threw the pokeball into the air, and a bright light followed which formed into a black winged, blue bodied, vampire like pokemon, with two claws, two pointed ears, and a scorpion like tail that ended in two pointed spikes, "Gliscor!" cried the fang scorpion Pokemon.

_"I didn't bring my Gliscor, is that Ash's?" _Gliscor proceeded to stick out its tongue to the side as it glided in the air,_ "yes, yes it is"_.

"Gliscor I need your help, it's an emergency! Use screech!" Gliscor quickly saw Ash crumpled on the floor near Electivire's feet, "Gliscor!?" and followed Paul's order.

Gliscor let out a high pitched, ear splitting sound causing everybody on the deck including Electivire, to cover their ears and scream in pain.

_"Let's see, what other moves does this thing know again" _Paul quicky thought."Gliscor!" Paul yelled, "Let's get Ash to safety, X-scissor on the Electivire". "Gli-Gliscor!" Gliscor's claws turned light blue as it charged Electivire, it then swiped them in an "X" formation, hitting Electivire in the face, causing it to stumble back and made it angrier.

"Forget them! We got what we came for, go!" The thieves began to run towards the starboard, where their escape boat was.

"May!" Paul called out. "I got it!" May ran to the closest Pokeball and chucked it into the air, "take the stage". Out of the Pokeball came out a four legged purple scorpion like pokemon, with pincers on its two front limbs and pincers on its tail. It also had 2 large fang like protrusions coming from its mouth, "Drapion!"

They Drapion appeared in front the thieves, stopping their progress. "Hey, where did it come from." "No matter, we need to get this to the boat, cover me" the lead thief instructed.

May caught up to Drapion, "Drapion I need your help, it's an emergency."

"Go Houndoom" called out one of the thiefs. "Go, Marowak" called out the other. Both a black and orange canine like Pokemon with two horns and a light brown Pokemon holding a thick club and wearing a skull appeared in front a Drapion.

Drapion was still confused about what was happening, until it saw the two pokemon appear in front of it. It looked that there was going to be a battle, and it wanted part of it.

The thief with the mega stone and key stone ran past others. "Drapion! stop him" Called out May. Drapion began to head for the thief before a flamethrower from the Houndoom stopped it in its tracks, "Tch, looks like we're going to have to clear them out first".

"Heh, go ahead and try little missy" snickered one of the thieves. "You don't know who your messing with bub, now Drapion use…" May pointed towards her opponents, "wait what moves does Drapion know." She sweat dropped.

"Well, this is going to be easy, Houndoom, Crunch!" The other thief followed suit, "Marowak, use bone rush!" both Pokemon rushed Drapion.

"Wait!" cried out May. She took out her pokedex as quickly as possible to check Drapion's moves, but it was too late, Houndoom and Marowak were already almost on top of Drapion. Drapion though would have none of it.

Drapion's pincers started to grow purple, then it blocked the attacks with a cross poison, sending the two Pokemon flying back in the process. "Wow, it's strong, really strong, it fought off those powerful attacks like nothing." May said impressed.

* * *

"Gliscor, you have an opening, go and get Ash out of there" Gliscor wasted no time and dove for Ash. Electivire answered with a Thunder bolt but it had no effect on the ground type.

Gliscor reached the almost unconscious Ash, who was still covered in static from the Thunder punch. "Put him at a distance, and quickly, Electivire's about to attack again." Gliscor found a spot away from the battle to place Ash and returned to face Electivire.

"Electivire!" It's fist starting glowing bluish white and lunged at Gliscor. "Watch out for that!" Gliscor quickly spread its wings to evade the attack. _"If it gets hit with that ice punch, it's over."_

* * *

"Houndoom, use Flamethrower" Houndoom proceeded to move to Drapion's left side and launced a blazing hot Flamethrower. "Marowak, use bonemerang" Marowak proceeded to move to Drapion's right side and threw its Bone Club at Drapion looking to cause some serious damage.

_"Dammit, their attacking from both sides"_ May became worried. But Drapion didn't see the issue, it ducked to evade both attacks, and the attacks continued on their course, hitting the other Pokemon, "Maro!" "Hound!"

_"Wow, it thinks for itself in battle as well, its trainer must be strong"_ May thought to herself.

But the the other Pokemon had not given up; they got up and continued to attack, "Marowak, Headsmash!" Marowak then charged at Drapion with its head down, and became shrouded in a bluish aura. "Drapion!" cried out the scorpion like Pokemon as it was hit. Houndoom then followed up with a Flamethrower that also landed its mark.

"No, wait Drapion" May called out to Drapion before it retailiated with an attack. Drapion looked back at May, "I see that you're strong but you're outnumbered, we need to work together. I can see how you like to battle, let me take the lead" May placed her hand on her chest.

Drapion hesitated for a second before nodding, "alright let's do this, Pin Missile!" Drapion proceeded to launch a stream of pins from its glowing white pincers at the opponents. "Evade!" called out the thieves. The Pokemon began to try and dodge the whizzing pins, but they're were too many and they were quickly overwhelmed.

The Pokemon weren't yet down though, "Marowak use head smash again" Marowak charged at Drapion once again. "Drapion dodge that" Drapion quickly ducked its body and let marowak pass by, "now grab it with your tail!" Drapion snatched Marowak out of the air with its tail, "now toss it into the sky". "Drapion!" "Marowaaak!" Marowak was tossed high into the night sky.

"Houndoom, use Flamethrower!" called out the other thief. "Hound" cried Houndoom before launching its attack. May's eyes widened, "Cross poison, attack that Flamethrower!" Drapion proceeded to go right at the Flamethrower.

An explosion followed and Drapion was covered in smoke. May gave a smile before giving her next command, "Drappion grab it". Much to the surprise of the Houndoom and its trainer, Drapions limbs shot out of the smoke and grabbed it, "Toss it in the air as well" May gestured towards the sky. "Houndoooooom!"

"Now" May spun on her heel, "use cross poison and send it in the air. And then follow up with Pin Missile". Drapion followed, even though it had never done a maneuver like this before. "Drapion!" The cross poison and Pin Missile collided with the two Pokemon in the sky, which caused a barrage of purple fireworks to occur.

"Wow, pretty" May cooed. The thieves looked in shock at the fireworks and their Pokemon, who came back crashing on to the ship.

* * *

_"Fireworks? What IS she doing?"_ Paul had seen the fireworks caused by Drapion's combination of Cross Poison and Pin Missile, _"This isn't a contest appeal" _Paul thought to himself, but he quickly got back to his battle. "Gliscor, stone edge!" He directed, Gliscor's eyes proceeded to glow white and it became surrounded by white rings which formed into rocks, it then launched them at Electivire.

"Electivire!" Electivire countered though with thunderbolt. Both attacks collided with each other in midair and exploded on contact, Paul then ordered, "use X-Scissor and end this aleady!" Gliscor glided through the smoke and went for the kill with X-Scissor. But Electivire was not going down so easy.

It grabbed Gliscor as it came in close, much to the surprise of Gliscor and Paul. Then its fist began to glow blue and it used ice punch. "Watch out!" It was too late; Gliscor was hammered by the Ice punch and was sent flying into the water.

"Dammit!" Electivire then turned its attention to Paul, "well, my goose is cooked". Electivire prepared to hit Paul with a Thunder Punch, when Gliscor came shooting out of the water. Gliscor then became surrounded in a light purple aura. "Gli-Gliscor!" Gliscor crashed right into Electivire, who took a ton of damage, while Gliscor proceeded to spin away, and land on the deck on its tail, tired and wet, but still up.

"That was Giga Impact, but how did it come back, it was hit with an Ice Puch and landed in the water."

_"I guess Ash's Pokemon have a knack to keep fighting" P_aul thought to himself as he remembered how Pikachu kept fighting to the bitter end against his Raichu.

Electivire was on its knees. "I guess that's it, it can't fight anymore" Paul referred to the Electivire. Electivire was about to faint, but it fired a last ditch Flamethrower. "Gliscor!" Paul called out urgently. Gliscor was able to get out of the way, but Paul quickly realized that the Flamethrower was headed Ash's way. He turned, only to find Ash wasn't there anymore, and the Flamethrower passed by harmlessly. _"Wait, where is he?" _

_"I might lose all the pokeballs, but I got what I came for"_ The lead thieve was about to board the escape boat when, "You're not going anywhere with that" a voice behind him made him turn around, "You!?"

The thief was surprised at what he saw, Ash was standing, electricity could be still seen on his body, _"he was hit with that Thunder Punch, how is he still standing"._

"You're not leaving here with that.I was entrusted to deliver those stones, but more than that" Ash clenched his right hand into a fist, "you were willing to separate trainer from Pokemon, friend from friend." Ash began to walk forward towards the thief.

"Boy you better get back away or I'll break your neck" he took out a metal stick from his back pocket which enlarged when he pressed a button.

"You were willing to hurt people for your greed" he grounded his teeth, "you were willing to hurt my friend, and you were willing to hurt my brother".

"Don't you dare get any closer" he raised his metallic object with his right hand, ready to strike Ash.

Ash's auburn eyes suddenly lit up and he charged him, "This is for May, for Paul, and all you tried to hurt tonight, human and Pokemon!"

The thieve swung at Ash, but Ash avoided it, _"huh, you're slow, I guess when fight someone like Paul as much I do everybody else seems slow" _Ash smiled, _"Hold this Thunder punch for me, Bitch!"_

Ash connected with an uppercut to the chin, and the thief crumpled to the floor.

Right after that Ash became weak, his breathing got heavy and his eyes became dull again, he fell to the floor right after, and started to go in and out of conscience.

He then heard footsteps coming towards him, and then he heard Paul's voice, "What are you talking about, 'This is for Paul' and 'you tried to hurt my brother'. Didn't I tell I don't need you, that I don't need anything from you, that I don't need you to be anything for me".

Paul neared Ash and reached for him, "Ouch" he was shocked when he tried to touch Ash. "I don't need a brother, I don't need you to do anything for me, and I don't need your help. You're the one who needs help right now" Ash slowly started to black out.

Paul picked up Ash despite the pain from the electricity and began to walk back towards the main part of the boat.

Then everything went black, but Ash's ears picked up one more thing, "but thanks anyway".

* * *

** Hold that chapter for me! Damn that took longer than I thought it would. This chapter proves that my chapter length will be all over the place. I hope you guys are okay with that, please bear with me.**

** I was actually thinking to pull some cliffhanger cheese in the middle of the chapter so I could split this into two shorter chapters, but I thought against it. Tell me if that was a good idea or if keeping it at one chapter was good, if you so wish to.**

** But that's all from me for now; remember to review, fave, follow, and all that good jazz. Stay beautiful people; this has been Pika-Bones, peace! (Yes, I do yell peace for real at the end of every chapter. I also do a peace sign as well. Is that weird? Oh well, byyyeeyeyeeeyee) **


	4. Arrival of the Star

**Road to Becoming a Pokemon Master, With My Brother?**

** Hello ladies and gentlemen, I am the one the only pika-bones and I humbly bring you chapter four of this long titled fan fiction. Thank you very much for your support, but enough with that let's begin.**

* * *

chapter4: Arrival of the Star

The moon was still up, but it was already early morning, and the sun was about to come up. Paul carried Ash over his shoulder and went to the emergency room. He looked for the doctor or the nurse, but he couldn't find them.

He placed Ash on one of the beds. He was unconscious, and the only sign of life was the rhythm of his pulse and his shallow breathing. Paul made his way quickly back out to the deck, where he found May.

"Paul! Where's Ash?" she sounded extremely concerned.

"He's in the emergency room; I laid him down on one of the beds." Paul answered her tiredly, he was so tired. The adrenaline rush he got earlier from the ordeal was wearing off.

"Is he okay?" May was really concerned and she was praying that Ash was okay.

"I don't know" Paul responded with concern discernable in his voice, "he's still got a pulse and he's breathing, so he's still alive. He was still moving actually, he was able to take out the last guy trying to escape remarkably." Paul paused a bit, and then continued, "He said something about doing it for you, since he tried to hurt you".

May heard this and a single tear fell from her left eye, "Ash, please you have to be okay" she intertwined her own two hands and pleaded. Paul glanced at this but kept an unemotional front.

"I have to go see him" she began. She then turned, and faced Drapion, "Drapion you were great out there, thank you" Drapion looked at May, "we make a great team don't you think?" She reached her hand out and Drapion looked at it for a then met her halfway with his pincers. May gave Drapion a smile, "we should battle together again sometime."

Just then Paul stepped into the conversation, "return you stupid scorpion, before you start competing in contest" Paul returned Drapion back into its Pokeball.

May looked a little surprised when Paul returned Drapion, "Paul, you're that Drapion's trainer?"

"Yes" he responded simply. May realized then that she must be looking at a very strong trainer.

"Well I'm going to stay with Ash in the emergency room, to keep an eye on him" she began to walk towards the emergency room.

"May" Paul began without looking at her, "remember to rest, it's been a long night."

"Sure thing, thanks" she left right after to be at Ash's side.

"Gliscor!" Paul quickly turned to find Ash's Gliscor. "What do you want?" Paul asked startled.

"Gli-Gliscor-Gli!" Glsicor stuck its tongue out and looked at Paul with those big eyes. "I guess you did a decent job… for one of Ash's pokemon" he stated reluctantly. Gliscor's eyes began to water with happiness and he jumped onto Paul, but Paul didn't want any of Gliscor's love, "get off of me!" Paul angrily hit Gliscor over the head, and Gliscor's eyes began to water again, "don't ever do that again" Paul commanded menacingly while shaking his left fist. Gliscor then sadly dropped to the floor due to exhaustion. Paul took out Gliscor's Pokeball, "just get in and rest" he mumbled to himself.

_"I wonder what happened to the crew, actually what happened to everybody?" _he began to think of the tonight's events, _"I need to call the coast guard, we need to get some help" _Paul entered the ship and used the radio to get help.

The night sky began to fade as the light from the sun began to creep over the horizon, beginning its rounds in the sky as any other day.

* * *

It was just dark, it wasn't a normal darkness, it was deep and he could see nothing, no shapes, no light, no nothing. Just then light broke through and he came back out of the deep, dreamless sleep.

When he first opened his eyes, Ash's vision was blurry at best. "Ugghhh, what happened?" he groaned. His sight was still blurry and he could barely move, "Am I dead?" He asked unsure if he was.

"Unfortunately, no" Ash heard someone speak but he could not see them, but he had a pretty good idea who it was.

"How was your nap sleeping dumbass" apparently somebody was _VERY_ happy to see Ash awake. Ash's vision began to clear and he was able to make put Paul, leaning on the wall next to him. He looked around as much as he could. He saw a few curtains to the sides of what now was his bed.

Paul had his tea in one hand, and he kept looking forward the whole time. He started to walk across the room. Because of his current position, Ash couldn't see what Paul was doing.

Soon Paul came back, still holding his tea, but now he had a cup of water in his other hand, "Here, your throat must be killing you." He was right; Ash's throat was both dry and sticky. Ash struggled a bit but was able to grab the water from Paul and somehow drank the water, even though he was so sore all over.

"Do you remember what happened before you blacked out" Paul asked Ash.

"Not much, the last thing I remember was an Electivire attacking us…. Wait! Paul the stones" Ash became alerted, but Paul calmed him down,

"Don't worry about that, we still have them" Paul took a sip of tea. Ash relaxed again.

Ash began to feel his other senses come back to him, he could smell the sterilized room, his hearing was returned to normal, and his sense of touch returned as well. He then began to try to move his body, he was really sore, but he managed to get some movement. When he tried to move his legs however, he felt resistance.

"Hey Paul, I can't move my legs, is something on top of them?"

Paul reached to the side of the bed and pressed a button to raise the top part of the bed, "see for yourself". When his head was high enough, he was surprised at what he saw, "May?" She was sitting in a chair to the side of the bed. Her head and upper body were laid out at the foot of the bed, on top of Ash's legs. She was sleeping, her eyes were closed and she was facing towards Ash.

"She hasn't left your side since you've been here" Paul began, "She wouldn't even leave to eat, I brought her food, but even then she wouldn't eat much".

_"May, not eat much? That didn't sound like her at all, she loves food as much as I do" _Ash didn't know what to say.

"She stayed here the whole time, she used this room's bathroom to change and wash up, and other than that she would just sit here, waiting for you to wake up. Heck she wouldn't even sleep on the other beds; she's going to be sore as hell when she wakes up."

May began to move around, "….Ash….Please….Be okay…." she mumbled in her sleep.

"She keeps repeating that all the time, it was annoying the first time" Paul seemed irritated.

_"Why would she do that, does she really care about me that much?"_ Ash couldn't wrap his head around it. "How long have I been out Paul?" Ash felt like he had been out for eternity.

"A little less than two days" Paul continued on, "After we stopped the thieves I called the coast guard for help. The thieves stopped the boat by having Electivire drain the electricity. They were able to steal the pokemon, by using the ventilation system to spread sleeping gas all over the place, luckily May lured you out of the cabin and I was outside to."

"Hey what do you mean by "lured", and why were you out so late too." Ash questioned him.

"First of all, where I was is none of your business, also you know what I mean by lured."

Ash looked at Paul confused, "No I don't, May just wanted us to take a walk".

Paul went back to the moment before the Electivire appeared, when Ash and May were on the bow, _"That didn't look like a walk to me" _Paul remembered how they were, with Mays hand in Ash's hair, her other hand on his chest, and their lips almost touching.

He stared back at Ash, but Ash still looked confused, that's when Paul realized the extent of Ash's density, "Hey Ash, what is May to you" Paul asked, trying to confirm his suspicion.

Ash looked a bit confused at the question, "I traveled with May in Hoenn and Kanto, she was just beginning as a trainer so we decided to travel together with her brother Max and my friend Brock. We became great friends, who will always be connected" Ash finished with a tired smile.

Paul went back to that moment, _"Oh yeah, she definitely was going to make you a very, very good friend" _as always Paul never showed what he was thinking, though he did have the urge to say something to Ash about his density.

"Well, that's all good then" Paul began to leave the room, "I'm going to tell the doctor that you're awake, see what he has to do to get you up and around" Paul left, leaving Ash with the sleeping May.

Ash was ready to wake her up, but then he saw how she looked sleeping and he just looked at her for a few seconds, _"She's…So…Cute?" _Ash noticed his thought process, _"Wait, cute? Where did that come from?"_ He questioned how he was thinking about May at the moment, and that's when May began to move again, and this time she mumbled something undiscernible. She slowly began to get to an upright position. She then stretched out her arms over her head as she let out a big yawn, her eyes still closed.

May began to slowly open her eyes; she took a quick look of her surroundings, until she looked in Ash's direction.

She froze for a bit, "hey May, sleep well?" Ash asked with a big silly grin and his face.

May then jumped out of her seat in joy, "Ash!" she lunged at him and gave him a powerful hug.

"Eeeyouch!" Ash cried out in pain, "May…Thunderpunch…Hurt…You…Breaking…meee…" She quickly released him from her death hug,

"O-oh, I'm sorry Ash, I think I got carried away. I was just really worried" she looked down towards the floor, trying to hide her heavy blush from Ash.

"It's okay May, I would be just as worried to if you were hurt." May raised her head again and tears were rolling down her cheek. "M-may, whats wrong?" Ash asked worried, why was she crying?

"I'm sorry Ash, I'm just so happy to see you're okay, I would just think about you not waking up and it just hurt thinking like that" she began dry the tears on her cheek while Ash looked at her worried. He didn't like seeing anybody cry, especially not May.

"I'm sorry Ash, I'm being silly, of course I knew you would come through, you always do" she then tilted her head and looked at Ash from head to toe, "so how you feel".

"I feel fine, maybe a bit sore. I can't wait to be able to get out of here." A long silence followed, neither seemed to have much to say. Ash then broke the silence, "wait, May where's Pikachu?" he looked around but couldn't find them.

"They're both still sleeping, on the floor next to your bed" she whispered.

"Wait, whose both?" May giggled at Ash's confusion. Ash positioned himself so he could get a look at Pikachu. Instead he found Glaceon and Pikachu snuggled up next to each other.

"They look so cute together" May gave a big smile and Ash returned it.

Suddenly a memory flashed in front of Ash's brain, the one where they were on the bow before the Electivire attack, "May, what was it you wanted to tell me the night we went for a walk. You never got the chance to tell me".

May seemed to be caught off guard by the question and she began to stutter, "We-well yo-you know the-I mean-well it-it was a-about".

"May, are you okay?" Ash became confused again.

"No! I mean I'm fine. Don't worry about it Ash, it wasn't anything important, I sort of forgot what it was too" she began to sweat a bit, certain that Ash would figure it out.

"Are you sure?" May gave a frantic nod. "Well okay then" Ash gave May a weird look, then he returned to look at Pikachu.

_"Wow, is he playing dumb? Or does he really not know, or doesn't he at least suspect something. His density knows no bounds it seems."_ May's thought were interrupted by a low growling noise, "Uhhh" May put her hand over her stomach.

"Well looks like somebody is hungry" Ash began to grin, then another growling noise could be heard coming from his stomach.

"Looks like the feelings mutual Ash Ketchum" they both gave a small laugh.

May began to head for the door, "I'm going to get something to eat, what you want me to get you."

"Anything's good May, whatever you're having".

"Alright then, I'll be right back" she left in search for food.

* * *

"Ouuuch!" Ash cried in pain.

"Doesn't look too bad" the doctor began, "but you'll definitely have some trouble walking straight for a couple of days" Ash had a huge bruise on his lower back, which not only looked like it hurt like hell, but it hurt like it as well.

"You should feel lucky that's all you have. If what I heard was true and you where thunder punched by a juiced up Electivire like that, I'm surprised you're not worse off. You must be tough as nails, considering you jumped right in front of that attack" Doc sounded quite impressed.

"Well, maybe, I really didn't think about it much; I just needed to do something quickly, it's something I'm good at" Ash recalled the last few moments before he blacked out.

Doc gently helped Ash stand up, "well, I guess that can be both a gift and a curse" he wrote something on his notepad, "it looks like once you're ready you can leave at any time, I'll just bandage you up, also you might one to put ice on that as often as you can, other than that you should be fine. You seem to have no other side effects from the electricity thankfully."

"Alright! Ash Ketchum is back in business, eeeyouch!" Ash jumped up to do a fist pump but apparently forgot he was in no position to do that.

"Didn't I tell you will be having trouble doing that" he looked at Ash behind his notepad, _"I guess it's mostly a curse" _doc thought to himself as he looked at his notepad.

"Thanks doc! Just in time to, the ship is almost at Coumarine city." Ash ran out, causing him to cry in pain along the way. _"Good luck young man, you'll need it"._

"Hey! Paul, May" Ash ran up to Paul and May, both who were at the front of the ship.

"Ash, what did the doctor say" May turned towards Ash while Pikachu jumped from May's shoulder onto Ash, while Paul kept looking forward towards the sea.

"He says I'm ready to go at any time, as long as I don't overdo it." Ash quickly moved his eyes towards the sea, "wow, looks great, hey Paul were almost at Kalos aren't we".

Paul kept his eyes ahead, "any minute now I guess."

It felt great to finally be outside of that room. The air was fresh, the sun bathed him in warmth, and he could feel small amounts of water splash his face. "You seem really happy to be outside Ash" May walked up next to Ash.

"Yea, I felt trapped in there; you know I've always loved being out in the open air" Ash looked towards the sky as he found Wingull and Pelippers soaring in the blue sky. He also found Wailmer, Tentacool, Tentacruel, and Clawitzer in the water. _"Hey, I've never seen that Pokemon before"_ Ash thought to himself, he was definitely planning on meeting a lot of new Pokemon in Kalos, he couldn't wait.

Finally, after what seemed to forever for Ash, the Coumarine city coastline appeared, "Ash look! its Coumarine city" she pointed towards the coastline.

"Alright, here is where it begins, our adventure in Kalos, ready Pikachu?"

"Pika-Pi!" Pikachu pumped his fist in response.

* * *

"So this is Coumarine city huh? Looks like a great town" Ash, May, and Paul all got off board with the other passengers. Ash was busy admiring the city with all its various outside markets while Paul used his Pokenav to figure out their route to Lumiose city. "Hey May, so are you coming with us to Lumiouse City?" Ash looked back to see May who was lagging behind.

"Um, about that…"

* * *

"You got a plane!" May led Ash and Paul to a small airport.

"Ya, those sponsors that wanted me to go Kalos, they sent somebody to get me from Coumarine city."

"Wow May, I knew you were starting to get big but this is something else, you've already got people escorting you" Ash looked at all the planes. They definitely weren't commercial planes, they were small, but not that small, they could probably carry a good number people at a time.

"It's not that big of a deal Ash" May tried to downplay the situation, "oh look, there's the plane".

May led the two trainers to a medium sized plane, more of a jet actually. May neared the plane until she was met by a seemingly irritated woman.

"Miss May Maple, where have you been, do you know that you are going to be late to your fitting and shoot of your new Pokemon contest dress." The woman in front them was wearing an expensive looking power suit. Black jacket, dark blue tie, white collar shirt, black dress pants, and black heels, and to top it all off she wore very dark sunglasses. Her hair was straight and barely reached her shoulders.

She was wearing a scowl on her face at the moment and May seemed a bit nervous, "I'm sorry, something happened on the ocean liner from Kanto that held me up" May rubbed the back of her hand and gave a big grin.

The woman with the sunglasses leaned closer to May "Miss, I don't care what happened, punctuality is key, especially now" she almost barked, "now get on the plane were leaving ASAP, were going to be late."

May began to walk towards the plane, definitely embarrassed by the scolding. Ash and Paul began to follow her when they were stopped, "And where do you thing you two are going" the woman with the sunglasses blocked their way to the plane.

"Um, on the plane?" Ash pointed towards the plane tentatively.

"Huh? You're kidding right, this is a private plane to get Miss Maple to Lumiose city" she leaned in for emphasis, "no free rides!" The force of her voice made Ash loose his balance.

"They're with me" May stepped in, "they're my friends and they're headed to Lumious too".

"I'm sorry they can't come" she began to walk away when May stopped her.

"If they can't go on the plane, then I'm not going either."

"Whoa May, it's okay, we can just make it to Lumiose city on foot" Ash tried to keep May from doing something she would regret, while Paul seemed to lose interest in the scene in front of him.

"Listen here Miss Maple, don't begin to assume you can call the shots because you think your becoming important in the coordinator world. You might be becoming a star, but you still have a long ways to go. I call the shots, not you. I am the reason you have this opportunity" she put pressure on May and May was struggling to keep her ground.

_"Star? Has May really come this far. That's great, but she started a good amount of time after me. She's already closer to her dream than I am." _For a moment doubt began to seep into Ash's mind.

She looked over at Ash and Paul, "who are you two anyway?" She demanded.

"Ash Ketchum from Pallet town, mam." Ash was snapped from his thoughts, and almost saluted for some reason.

"None of your business" Paul responded with both of his hands deep in his pockets and with the same expression he gives everyone.

"Paul! What are doing" Ash whispered loudly.

"And what is your business in Lumiouse city?" her glasses glistened in the sunlight.

"Completing a task for professor Oak and professor Sycamore for the advancement of science, mam!" This time Ash did salute for some reason.

"Again, none of your dammed business" Paul once again answered not giving a damn.

"Paul! What are you doing" Ash then turned to the Woman with the sun glasses while holding Paul's jacket "I'm sorry he's an idiot-arrrgh!" Ash then doubled over in pain,

"What did I say about grabbing my jacket" Paul hissed.

The woman then walked up to Paul and eyed him carefully, and then she gave a small smile "Hm? You remind me of me when I grew up. I like you, unlike some other young people," she looked over at Ash, "why in the world is he saluting anyway?"

"I apologize, he's a dumbass" Paul gave a small smirk.

"Alright! Everybody on the plane" she demanded, and then she looked at Ash and Paul, "and both of you better hope you don't get air sick, because if you start blowing chunks on my plane, I'm throwing you out." They began to board the plane, onto Lumiouse city.

* * *

"Wow, the view up here is awesome!" May looked down towards the ground through the window.

"Never been on a plane before, airports in Kanto are far and few between" Paul explained.

"Well I guess that's why some inconsiderate people refer Kanto to the boonies, they do seem to fall behind a lot compared to the other regions" she put her chin on her fist in thought.

"Boonies huh, I've been dying to hear that word again" Ash answered sarcastically as his mind went back to Unova.

"And why do you look so upset?" Paul asked roughly.

"Oh nothing, I was just reminded of another doushebag trainer that I met in Unova, not you of course, shitty attitude, different hair color, always taking pictures" Ash's memory of Trip was still fresh.

"Oh, somebody else that makes your life miserable and repeatedly destroys you. Wait, don't tell me, it's the guy with the level 5 Snivy isn't it." A smirk appeared on Paul's face. "I think that's somebody I'd like to meet."

"Oh yeah, you two would make a great pair" Ash shot back.

And the pointless bickering ensued, _"These two make Max and I look like perfect siblings. This is going to be a long plane ride."_ May gave a nervous smile, "I'm sorry, they're still getting used to being brothers" May turned to the women with the black sunglasses.

"I don't care" she was busy with her laptop, "as long as they don't ruin my plane" she simply put.

* * *

**And that's that. Pika-Bones is sleepy, so you know the drill,**

**Was it balls to the wall amazing?**

**Was it a meh like most of my essays?**

**Or was it terrible like that one dollar sandwich I ate from McDonalds?**

**If you enjoyed, fave and follow till you break your finger (I am not liable if you actually break your finger) and see you next time. Check for that monster in your closet and beat the crap out of !**


	5. Lumiose City, Start!

**Road to Becoming a Pokemon Master, With My Brother?**

** Hello ladies and gentlemen, I'm Pika-Bones and I'm proud to present you with this new chapter. Thanks for the support on the last chapter so allow us to begin.**

** Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.**

* * *

Lumiose City, Start!

After a plane ride that felt longer than it was, the trio arrived to Kalos. The plane landed in a small airport. "Alright let's do this" Ash exited the plane, ready to see Lumiouse city, but Ash soon realized something wrong. "May you're not coming?" Ash looked over May's shoulder to see a car ready to leave, "Oh yeah I forgot about that" Ash became sullen realizing May had somewhere else to be.

"Yeah, I wish I could go with you guys, but we can spend time together later" She reached into her bag and pulled out a card, "this is the hotel I'll be staying at while I'm in Lumiouse. I'm sure I can arrange something for you guys so you can spend the night. The Pokemon center bunks are great and all, but nothing beats a nice and comfy bed."

"Yeah, of course" Ash brightened up once more.

"Well got to go, see you later, you to Pikachu" May ran towards the car and waved back at Ash.

"Pika-Pika-Pi" Pikachu cried as he waved at May too.

Ash waved back, and he quickly became consumed in his own day dream. He took in every part of May as she left, seemingly in slow motion. She seemed to be sparkling in the daylight.

Ash stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, until a voice began to creep into his daydream, "dumbass…dumbass…dumbass…dumbass!"

"Auuggghh" Ash cried as a sharp, searing pain shot up through his spine.

"What. Was. That!" Ash screamed in pain, "I was just Thunder Punched there a few days ago." Ash was pissed, but he was in too much pain to do much about it.

"What are you starring at anyway, she's gone already, and we have stuff to do" Paul grabbed Ash by the back of his collar, "I tried talking to you but obviously you don't have enough capacity to understand language, so how else was I supposed to get your attention. Now stop looking like a complete idiot, we need to find professor Sycamore, wherever his damned lab is." Paul began to drag Ash with him as they made their way out of the airport and into Kalos.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried angrily towards Paul.

"And you're going to tell me you would have done something differently" Paul looked back at Pikachu.

"Pika?" Pikachu scratched its head unsure how to respond. Well it wasn't like Pikachu was an angel towards Ash. He had shocked Ash countless times. It did seem that Ash had trouble understanding anything really sometimes.

Pikachu just shrugged and followed Paul with Ash towards Lumiouse city.

But before they made it into the building, Paul caught sight of a Blaziken like Pokemon, but it was different. He only got a quick look before Blaziken jumped over them. Ash got a look on the back end before the Pokemon sped away at an insane speed.

"Awesome! What was that" Ash became pumped at seeing something going so fast.

"A stupid looking Blaziken, now let's go."

* * *

"Dammit Paul, where are we going" Ash had recovered from the initial pain, but now he had a bit of a Prinplup waddle in his step.

"This stupid city is annoyingly huge, and why did they built it like this, it's like literally going in circles, I can't find the damned place" Paul was nose deep in a Lumiose city map trying to make sense of it.

"So many stores and cafes, I know a few people who would love it here" Ash said thinking of his past travels with his other companions and their need to shop. Ash also began to notice the other details about the city.

"Hey look at that Pokemon Pikachu" Ash noticed the goat like Pokemon covered in brown fur with a green leafy mane, "and look there" Ash also noticed a group of dog like pokemon, all with differently designed fur. "These Pokemon are definitely unique from the other regions."

"Dammit! We were already here; I can't even find the Pokemon center for a sense of direction" Paul's irritation was building up.

"Hey look, it's a taxi, maybe we can get a ride to the proffesor's lab" Ash ran up to a taxi that was parked across the street, "hello sir you think you could get us to Proffesor's Sycamores lab" he asked the taxi driver.

"Of course get in" Ash was about to step inside of the cab when he was immediately pulled away from the taxi by Paul.

"Hey! Whats the matter, he said he could take us the lab" Ash pulled Paul's hand away from him.

"It's not that dumbass. This place is a tourist trap, the taxi service here is straight up robbery" Paul continued to walk, "the thieves we fought on the ship are better than these crooks. At least they didn't try to sugar coat anything."

"You left out the part where they almost killed me!" Ash added following Paul.

"Stop dwelling on the past. We still need to find that lab." Paul wrapped up their little conversation.

They kept on wandering the city, not finding the lab, even after asking for directions. They began to become increasingly tired and irritated, "Are we there yet?" Ash was becoming especially bored.

"Stupid map, North Boulevard, South Boulevard, Atutmunal Boulevard, Estival Avenue, Vernal Avenue, what kind of directions are these?"

"Hey Paul what's that?" Ash pointed towards a large structure in the center of the city.

"It's Prism Tower, it serves as the city's symbol" he explained to Ash.

"Well, if it's the center of the city we could use it as a good starting point, and we might find the lab, it'll at least give us a sense of direction."

Paul raised his eyebrow curiously.

"What!?" he asked irritated by Paul's look.

"Nothing, it's just, that idea isn't completely idiotic. Let's go" Paul headed for the Prism tower.

"Hey! What did you mean by that" Ash growled, "wait for me!" Ash quickly followed Paul towards Prism Tower.

Ash and Paul reached Prism Tower in due time, then something about the tower caught Ash's attention, "Hey, isn't that a gym symbol" Ash pointed towards the tower.

"Yes, looks like the Prism tower also serves as the gym too" Paul looked up and down the tall building. If he was impressed he didn't show it.

"Wow, looks awesome, I'm going to challenge it now" Ash took off for the tower in a sprint.

"Wait, we still need to deliver the stones!" Paul called out to Ash.

"We'll do that later" Ash stopped and turned around, "we can't find the lab anyway, might as well start by getting the first gym badge in Kalos. Ready Pikachu, our new challenge awaits, let's do this," Ash turned back and ran into the tower.

_"Tch, might as well I guess, there's nothing better to do. Anyway I got too keep an eye on him."_ Paul walked into the tower after Ash, while a pair of blonds, one young man and a younger girl, looked on as they entered.

The inside of the gym seemed like a wacky lab, with visible electricity flowing through large tubes. Ash reached the entrance of the gym and called out, "is anybody here?"

He was answered by the screen that was placed above the entrance which turned on displaying the symbol for gyms, "welcome to the Lumiose gym".

"My name is Ash Ketchum and I come from Kanto, I want to have a gym battle please?" Ash asked politely.

"How many badges have you acquired" the voice coming from the screen answered him.

"Badges? Well you see this is my first gym in the Kalos region, so I have none."

At this time, Paul had reached Ash and was standing a step or two behind him.

"No gym badges!" answered the voice in exasperation, "in order to challenge the Lumiouse gym you must have accumulated at least 4 gym badges" at this moment a couple of electric rods appeared from the ceiling, "please leave immediately."

"Hey! Wait, wait a minute!" Ash was electrocuted immediately,

"eeeeyyaauoch!"

"Piiiikkkkaaaa!"

"I know I'm used to taking physical punishment consistently, but this is starting to get ridiculous" Ash said completely fried.

"And how many badges do you have?" The screen turned its attention to Paul.

"Apparently none of your dammed business" Paul called out.

"I must ask you to leave as well" the electrical rods appeared again and tried to shock Paul, but Paul expected this and began evading the shocks.

"Stupid crossed eyed dork, can't even aim straight. Come out here so I can kick your ass." Paul taunted the voice.

"…Hm, please come again when you have acquired the necessary badges" the floor beneath Ash and Paul proceeded to open up,

"Craaaap!" Paul let out before both he and Ash were sent down a shoot that led outside and they began to drop a considerable amount of distance.

The two blondes passing by heard their screams and quickly reacted, "Oh no!" The two blonds began to run towards Ash and Paul, "I'm gonna get the two guys!" called out the blond guy with the backpack as he ran trying to catch up to the falling pair.

"I'll catch Pikachu" called out the girl.

"Alright then, go!" his glasses shinned in the sunlight and he threw his bag across the pavement under Ash and Paul. The weird bag opened up and a large air bag inflated, catching booth Ash and Paul before they hit the ground.

"I got you Pikachu!" Cried the little girl as she caught Pikachu as well before he hit the ground, and she giggled as she caught him.

"Are you two alright?" he asked.

"Ugh, yeah I think so. Thanks" Ash got up gingerly.

"Yeah, thank you for your help" Paul quickly got up and dusted off himself off.

"Clemont! Look it's a Pikachu, and what a cutie!" The blonde girl began to squeeze Pikachu tight.

Pikachu was caught off guard by the sudden show of affection, "Pika? Chuuu!" Pikachu sent out an electric shock, electrocuting all four in the vicinity.

"Waaaahhhh!" Everybody let out a cry as they were shocked.

"Bonnie! Are you okay" Clemont asked worried as she fell back after the electrical shock.

"Haahahaa, of course" she stood up with a smile and her hands behind her back.

"I'm sorry about my sister. Bonnie, apologize!"

"I just wanted to give Pikachu a hug because it's so cute!" Bonnie answered with a pout.

"Hm, but did Pikachu like it" Clemont gestured towards Pikachu.

"Hm? mh,Okay, I'm really sorry Pikachu" she shrunk back a bit as she apologized.

"Everything's okay now, Pikachu was just a bit surprised." Ash said softly as he lowered himself closer to Bonnie, "But I haven't thanked you yet, I'm really grateful that you saved Pikachu."

"Hahaha, you're very welcomed." Bonnie brightened up once more

"Hey, Clemont is it, whats up with this gym" Paul chimed in, clearly wanting answers.

"You guys got kicked out right."

"Yeah, and after coming all this way, some gym leader" Ash added a tad upset.

"Yeah, he's something alright" Clemont commented.

"The leader of the Lumiouse gym is this really super-duper strong person" Bonnie pointed out.

"So how many gym badges do both of you have?" Clemont asked.

"None." Ash answered indifferently

"None!" Bonnie and Clemont called out in unison.

"You see, we just arrived here. We came from the kanto region. My name is Ash and this is Paul, and this is my partner Pikachu. I'm on a journey to become a Pokemon master."

While everybody was going through the introductions Paul couldn't stop wondering, _"Is it just me or does this Clemont guy's voice sound familiar."_ He looked back towards the tower and back at Clemont, _"I guess it's something I'll have to keep tabs on."_

* * *

The group of four had moved away from the crazy gym and now were next to a dirt battlefield. The four, excluding Paul who was a few feet separated from the group, continued to learn about each other as they chatted in the shades of the trees.

"Now it's time for us to introduce ourselves. My name is Clemont and this is my little sister Bonnie."

"Nice to meet you!" Bonnie said cheerfully.

"Nice to meet both of you, Clemont, Bonnie."

"Pika-Pika."

"You and Pikachu seem like such good friends, the way Pikachu sits on your shoulder like that."

Unknown to the group, a blue frog like Pokemon was watching them from the trees. Actually, Paul was aware of its presence, but didn't seem to react to it.

"Well, Pikachu and I have known each other a long time. Actually Pikachu was the first Pokemon I ever got" Ash then turned to the siblings in front of him, "So are you two on a journey as well?"

"Journey? Well you see-" Clemont started uncertain, then Bonnie finished for him,

"-That's something we will do in the future."

"That must be really cool, to be able to travel with a sibli-" Ash stopped in mid-sentence, then turned and looked at Paul who was leaning against a wall with his eyes closed.

Clemont seemed to notice this, "So Ash, you and Paul, are you two traveling together".

Ash was about answer when Paul entered the conversation, "Us traveling together, barely, more like me dragging him everywhere, making sure he doesn't screw up.

Ash wanted to swing at Paul at the moment but realized that wasn't a good idea for a number of reasons, "I'm sorry about that, I guess you could say me and Paul are brothers."

"Really!" the two blonds reacted simultaneously.

"I hope you don't mind me saying" Clemont played with his glasses a bit, "but I really don't see the resemblance. Though sibling do sometimes turn out to look completely different from each other."

"Well actually were not really blood related, were adoptive siblings. We barely met each other over a month ago" Ash gave a nervous smile, "you know what, we are brothers, no matter how it happened, it doesn't matter. Were also in Kalos to run an errand for professor Oak."

"Proffesor Oak! You mean you know professor Oak personally" Clemont called out in surprise.

"Yeah, he's a good family friend" Ash decided to change the subject, "Hey, Clemont what pokemon do you have on you?"

"Pokemon huh, well I barely caught this one recently." Clemont took out a pokeball and held it up.

"Alright! You think you could show it to me and then let's have a battle" Ash raised his fist at the word battle and Pikachu ran onto the dirt battlefield.

"Battle?" Clemont looked towards the dirt battlefield.

"Of course, if I can't have my gym battle, I want my first battle be against you" he looked towards Clemont with a determined look.

"You should Clemont, it'll be a good test of strength" Bonnie pulled on Clemont's blue jumpsuit, pushing him to battle.

"Alright then, sounds good" Clemont stepped into the trainer's box on the battlefield with Ash stepped onto the other trainer box.

"Alright Bunnelby, let's have a battle" Clemont's glasses shined in the sunlight and tossed his Pokeball onto the battlefield and it released a small, gray, rabbit like Pokemon with two large white teeth and brown tipped ears.

"Pikachu let's give it our all" Pikachu cheeks began to spark signaling it's ready to put in work.

_"I can already tell his battling demeanor is different when it's not me he's facing." _Paul looked on from the shade.

"This is our first battle together Bunnelby, just relax and you'll do great" Clemont reassured his partner.

"Lots of luck to both teams" called out Bonnie starting off the battle.

_"Well, there's no better way to start our first battle in Kalos than with this" _"Pikachu let's start things right, Thunderbolt!"

"Pika-Chuuu!" Pikachu leaped in the air and sent a lightining strike at Bunnelby.

"Bunnelby, use your ears to stir up the sand!" Bunnelby proceeded to shovel a large amount of sand quickly into the air blocking the Thunderbolt.

Both Ash and Pikachu gasped at the maneuver.

"Bunnelby's not exactly a ground type, but it's more than prepared to deal with your Pikachu's electric type attacks."

"Wow, looks like those big ears are more for just hearing; actually they look more like a huge pair of shovels"." Ash was impressed at the Pokemon's unique attributes.

_"Look at that, looks like he knows how to deal with electric types. Without its electric type moves that Pikachu becomes even more useless than usual" _Paul had not moved from his previous spot, he seemed almost frozen.

Bonnie seemed to finally felt Paul's presence as she moved her attention from the battle to Paul for a second, _"He hasn't said much has he. He and Ash seem like completely different people, I can almost feel it" _after a bit of a hesitation Bonnie returned her attention to the battle.

"Now Bunnelby use dig, attack from underground!" Gestured the blond trainer as Bunnelby quickly dug into the ground.

"Take off Pikachu, don't let them know where you are."

_"Looking to confuse us with speed are you. It won't work." _"Bunnelby now!"

"Pika!" Bunnelby found Pikachu's position and attacked from underground sending the rodent like Pokemon into the air.

"Bunel-By!" Bunnelby smacked Pikachu hard with its ears in midair, sending it back to earth grimacing in pain as it landed with a thud.

"No! Are you okay Pikachu" the raven haired trainer asked, seeing if Pikachu wanted to go on.

"Pika-Pika!" Answered Pikachu with determination.

"Ya, that's the spirit. Now use quick attack" Ash gestured his command and Pikachu followed suit.

"Pikachu-Pika!" Pikachu went into a lightning speed attack, leaving Bunelby little time to react and hitting his mark.

"Bunel" the rabbit like Pokemon seemed surprised by Pikachu's speed and was sent flying back. It managed to break its fall by using its ears as support and landed on two legs.

"Bunnelby, answer with double slap" Bunelby retaliated quickly and started to pound Pikachu repeatedly with its ears.

"Those ears are a problem, their like an extra set of hands" Ash clenched his fist knowing that this could go south fast if he didn't find a way to deal with those ears.

"Pretty neat huh" Clemont pushed the bridge of his glasses up, "Bunnelby's ears can do a lot of great things" he finshed confidently as Bunnelby backed his trainer up in a fighting position.

Pikachu was sent flying by the Double slap but soon straightened itself out, "don't get too confident Clemont, Pikachu still has a lot left in him, isn't that right Pikachu".

"Pika-Pika!" Piakchu responded; slightly peeved at the beating it just took.

"Awesome, now use Iron Tail!" Pikachu jumped into the clear blue sky and with its steel hard tail came down onto Bunnelby.

"Look at that, Pikachu knows a steel type move" called out Bonnie in surprise.

Clemont was taken by surprise for a second then he called out quickly, "use your ears and catch it".

Pikachu came down hard on Bunnelby with its steel hard tail, but Bunnelby was up to the task as it caught it and stopped Pikachu cold in its tracks.

"It worked like it should" called out Clemont sure of his victory.

"Yeah, it was great that you caught it and all, but just make sure it doesn't blow up in your face."

"Wait what?" Clemont then realized Bunnelby's vulnerable position.

"Electro ball!" Pikachu began to create a ball of electricity right in Bunnelbys face. Bunnelby became wide eyed and the electro ball blew up in its face, sending dust and Bunnelby flying.

"Wow, Pikachu and Ash are amazing!" Bonnie yelled excitedly.

_"By battling him I understand him even better. He communicates by battling so well, it's like he's a born battler."_

"Alright Pikachu, now use Volt tackle!"

"Pika" Pikachu went into its strongest and most dangerous attack.

_"Really dumbass, Volt tackle now? Your about to get beat" _Paul seemed to disagree with Ash's move choice.

_"Volt Tackle? That's a really strong move, but dangerous. If we time it right we can win right now."_

_ "_Bunnelby, heads up, wait for my command."

"Bunnel" nodded the gray rabbit like Pokemon as it held its ground.

As Pikachu began to cross midfield, an electric net appeared. Pikachu quickly stopped its attack and jumped back to avoid getting hurt.

"Pikachu, are you okay. Alright who did that!" Ash yelled

"That was dangerous!" Clemont added as he, Bonnie, and Ash met up at midfield.

"Who are you?" called out Bonnie.

"Prepare for trouble, our middle name"

"And make it double, it's a high stakes game"

"To protect the world from devestation"

"To unite all people within our nation"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love"

"To extend our reach to the stars above"

"Jessie"

"And James"

"Team Roocket blasts off at the speed of light"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight, fight, and fight"

"Meowth that's right!"

"Wobbuffet!"

"Team Rocket!" Ash identified the perpetrators.

"Wow, cool a talking Meowth" Clemont began to walk towards team rocket but Ash put this hand on his shoulder.

"Clemont, wait, they're team rocket, you can't trust team. They are a bunch of crooks that keep trying to steal my Pikachu."

_"So this is the team rocket he keeps running into? They really don't seem like much of a threat. More like a bunch of yahoos looking for some attention. Well there's no use in wasting energy" _Paul leaned back on one of the trees, _"Let's see how this plays out." _Paul then looked toward the tree tops_ "I wonder what our little observer from the trees is going to do"._

"Please brat, were here in Kalos to assemble all the powerful Pokemon this region has to offer. Though Pikachu is priority number one" Jessie made their intentions clear.

"And we will also take that dirty rabbit" James added.

"Pika!" Pikachu steeped in front of Bunnelby

"Not a chance" Ash took a step forward, ready to fight.

"I won't stand idly by while you steal Pokemon" Clemont's glasses flashed in the sunlight.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Pikachu jumped high in the air and launched a lighting strike at the team rocket.

"Wobbuffet, please" Jessie called out confidently.

"Wobbuffet!" Wobbufet jumped into the air as well and used Mirror coat to bounce Pikachu's thunderbolt back at twice the power.

"Pi-Pika!" Cried Pikachu as his own Thunderbolt was sent back in its face.

"Pikachu!" Ash quickly ran under Pikachu and dove to save Pikachu from a hard fall, "are you okay Pikachu".

"Pika" Pikachu slowly opened its eyes.

"That was Mirror coat, it bounces moves back with twice the power, we should retreat, thats too much power." Clemont suggested retreating worried.

"No, were not going anywhere, as long as Pikachu can fight, as long as Pikachu doesn't give up, I will always be here, battling to the end. We will not lose to them. Pikachu, use electro ball! "

"Pika!" Pikachu jumped in the air again and launched the ball of electricity at team rocket,

"We'll back you up" Clemont became motivated with Ash's words, "Bunnelby use mud shot" Bunnelby created a ball energy in between its two ears and launched as assault of mud balls at Wobbuffet.

"Wobbeffut, again please" Wobbufet proceeded to dodge Bunnelby's mudshot much to the surprise of Clemont, the it used mirror coat once again, and bounced back the electro ball back to Pikachu.

Pikachu was about to get hit hard again by its own attack when out of nowhere a blue blur jumped from the trees and appeared in front of Pikachu, _"Looks like you decided to show" _Paul looked up at the blue frog like Pokemon.

The blue frog Pokemon put its body in between Pikachu and the two times powered up Electro ball, casing an explosion in midair.

The mysterious Pokemon came back down to earth with Pikahu in its arms. The blue Pokemon stumbled a bit, obviously badly hurt from the attack.

_"Hm, not bad" _Paul thought to himself.

"Are you okay Pikachu?" Ash then noticed the blue frog Pokemon.

"It's a Froakie" Clemont and Bonnie ran up to Ash, "It's one of the three Pokemon a starting trainer can get from professor Sycamore. It's a water type so that Electro ball must have done lots of damage."

"Froakie, are you okay?" Ash asked worried, "so where is its trainer" they began to look around.

But Foakie was focused on something else. Without hesitation Froakie approached team rocket, "Froakie Froak!"

Meowth translated, "Froakie saying that bad guys rub it the wrong way!"

"You can't take them on if you're hurt" Froakie ignored the raven haired trainer and jumped right into the fray of things, "Froakie!"

"Froa-Kie!" cried out the blue frog Pokemon as it launched its frubbles at team rocket.

"Froakie just used its Frubbles!" Yelled out Bonnie in surprise.

"Big whoop, we'll just send them right back" Jesse directed Wobbuffet to turn around the attack.

Wobbufet tried to bounce back the move but it was soon caught up in the frubblles and crashed back down.

"Whats this."

"I can't get this gunk off" Team Rocket became stuck as well.

"Of course, that wasn't an attack, so they couldn't bounce it back" Clemont explained.

_"Interesting, Froakie is it. Wonder if it has a trainer." _Paul was impressed by Froakie's showing.

"Great job Froakie, we'll take it from here" Ash ran up to Froakie.

"We'll lend a hand too" Clemont ran up as well.

"You guys better not forget me" Bonnie ran up as well.

"Bunnelby use dig" Clemont directed his Pokemon.

Bunnelby began to raidly spin and dug underground, and then quickly caused the ground underneath team rocket's feet to crumble, sending them flying.

"Nice work Bunnelby."

"Let's wrap this up, Pikachu use Thunderbolt" Ash gestured as he gave his command.

"Pika-" both Pikachu and Froakie jumped in the air as they began to perform their attacks,

Then out of nowhere, "Thunder" a beige colored blur leaped as well and bounced Pikachu out of the way.

"Pi-ka?" Pikachu was knocked off balance by Raichu and Pikachu's attack failed.

"Raichuuu!" Raichu let out a powerful Thunder that with Froakie's water pulse, sent team rocket flying.

"Were blasting off again" Yelled out the Trio as the disappeared into the sky.

"Wait, where did that Raichu come from?" Bonnie asked surprised.

Her answer came when Raichu landed right next to Paul.

"Hey! What was that?" Ash was ticked off.

"What? Raichu wanted some target practice" Paul responded nonchalantly.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried angrily before it charged Raichu with an Iron tail, which Raichu blocked with ease with its own Iron Tail.

"Rai" sneered the beige rodent like Pokemon.

Pikachu backed up from the attack and the two Pokemon began to stare each other down. It looked like a fight was going to go down when Froakie caught everybody's attention.

"Froa-Froakie" Froakie fell over and everybody started to focus on Froakie.

"Froakie are you okay" Ash became worried, knowing he owed Froakie for saving Pikachu, "we need to get to a Pokemon Center, do you guys know where it is".

"Wait, proffesor Sycamore's lab is closer; he'll probably be able to take care of it" Bonnie explained.

"You know where the lab is. Then we have to hurry." Ash turned to Bonnie.

"Come on Ash, I'll lead the way" Bonnie began to dash of the battle field and up the stairs towards the professor's lab with Ash following close behind.

"Don't worry Froakie, hang in there, were going to get help." Ash tried to comfort Froakie as he raced towards Sycamore's lab.

"Hurry! I'll be right behind!" Clemont called out as he ran towards their bags and carried them with him, running after the others.

_"So they know where his lab is. Well that's convenient"_ Paul returned Raichu into its Pokeball and strolled behind Clemont with his hands deep in his pockets, _"finally, I'll be done with this and I'll be on my way"_.

* * *

** Done, Done, and Done.**

** Thank you once again for reading. I do realize this chapter lines up with canon in the middle and end, but I thought about it, and I really wanted to introduce Clemont and Bonnie in this story. And this was probably the best way.**

** I hope I didn't disappoint, so follow, fave, and please review. Let me know your there and I'll see you next time. This has been Pika-Bones, peace! **


	6. A Lot to Chew on!

**Road to Becoming a Pokemon Master, With My Brother?**

** Hello ladies and gentlemen, I am your host Pika-Bones and I bring you chapter 6. Thank you once again for your support, without further ado, here is chapter 6. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon**

* * *

A Lot to Chew on!

"Froakie hang in there, were going to get help real soon" Ash was following Bonnie closely as she led him to professor Sycamores's.

Meanwhile, Clemont was lagging behind by a lot. It was clear that Clemont wasn't the most athletic, it also didn't help that he was carrying his, Bonnie's, and Ash's bags.

"I *gasp* hate this *wheeze*."

Just then, Paul caught up somehow by just walking at his own pace. He came up next to the struggling Clemont, "here let me help you" Paul stopped Clemont for a second and took Ash's bag from him.

"Thanks" Clemont responded surprised and relieved he didn't have to carry all those bags

"You don't need to run so desperately too, I'm sure Bonnie and Ash got this" Paul then looked ahead and began to walk, "actually I wanted to tell you something.

Clemont slowed down to a brisk walk like Paul, realizing what Paul said was true, and also to hear what Paul wanted to say, "so what is it?"

"From the battle you just had with Ash, it seems you know a lot about electric types" Paul began and Clemont looked at Paul wondering what he was getting at, "I heard that the Lumiouse city gym leader specializes in electric type Pokemon. Is that right?"

Clemont became slightly nervous at the mention of the Lumiouse gym leader, "Uh, I guess so, but why is that relevant?"

"I guess it isn't relevant, but all I know is that he tried to shock me, threw me out and dropped me 20 feet. When I find him, I'm going to kick his ass" Clemont's eyes grew wide while a tingling sensation went through his spine, "I'm sure you would understand my feelings."

Clemont tried to quickly regain his composure, "well I imagine that would be the initial and natural reaction after something like that. Albeit a bit hasty don't you think."

Paul kept his unemotional front, "of course it's hasty, but I'm still going to kick his ass."

"Uh-uh, you know Bonnie is probably worried about me" Clemont then began to hastily run towards the lab, "nice talking to you". Paul simply followed.

* * *

"Hello, Professor Sycamore?" Ash called out as he and Bonnie entered the building through two large doors.

A loud yawn could be heard from one of the hallways, and a man in a blue shirt, black pants, and a lab coat appeared.

"Are you the Professor?" Ash asked in a hurry, with Froakie limp in his arms.

The man took one look at them and quickly focused on Froakie, "Froakie, no!"

"Wait you know this Froakie?" Ash asked in surprise.

"Yes I do" Sycamore gently took Froakie from Ash, "We've been worried about, your trainer just contacted us" this didn't get a response from Froakie, "Sophie come quick" he called out.

A blue haired woman in a lab coat quickly entered, "Froakie needs help".

"Right" she responded quickly, took Froakie, and quickly left to help Froakie.

"Thanks professor, we were really worried. So is Froakie's trainer coming to get him?" Ash and Bonnie seemed to relax.

"I'm afraid not. Froakie's trainer contacted us to let us know he was giving him up."

"Giving up, Froakie?" Ash and Bonnie looked surprised that someone would give up such a great Pokemon like Froakie.

Just then Clemont arrived gasping for air and struggling to stay on his feet, "You're so slow" Bonnie scolded Clemont.

"How's Froakie" Clemont asked after catching his breath. Then Paul came in, he saw the group and walked up to Sycamore, "so are you are the professor Sycamore".

"Yes, I am" Sycamore nodded then he seemed to remember something, "wait a second, you must be Paul, and you must be Ash. Sorry, I was so worried about Froakie I almost didn't recognize you."

"What do you mean; I don't recall us seeing each other?" Ash responded.

"Well when Samuel Oak called and gave me your names he sent me a video of Paul battle so I could recognize him. And for Ash, all Samuel told was to look for the raven haired young man with a Pikachu on his shoulder."

"Pika?"

_"Is it really that easy to recognize me"_ Ash turned to Pikachu who just shrugged.

"Well now" Sycamore began to walk, "I know you all want to see Froakie. Also we have some things to discuss, come with me."

Sycamore led them to where Froakie was being treated. They all looked on worried except for Paul who was somewhere else in the room leaning on the wall with his eyes closed.

"Poor Froakie" Ash thought out loud.

"Don't worry, Sophie is the best at what she does, Froakie will be fine. Come and let's talk over some tea."

Sycamore led the four too a couple of seats around a table with tea. Ash, Bonnie, and Clemont all sat on one sofa while Sycamore sat across form them. And Paul sat on another side of the table.

Paul was taking a sip of his tea when Sycamore began to talk, "Now, let me properly introduce myself. I am Professor Sycamore; I am a researcher currently working in the Kalos region. Thank you very much for saving Froakie."

"Of course, but it was really Froakie that saved us. My name is Ash Ketchum and and this is my buddy Pikachu. I'm on a journey to become a Pokemon master."

"Nice to meet you professor, I'm Bonnie and this is my brother Clemont."

"Professsor Sycamore, I've heard much of your work, it's an honor to meet you."

"Welcome, it's a pleasure to meet you all."

"So professor" Ash's smile disappeared and he became serious, "may I ask what is the deal with Froakie's trainer. Why would he give Froakie up".

"Well you see" Sycamore began, "one of my numerous responsibilities is to give beginning trainers their first Pokemon" Sycamore turned to Froakie, "Froakie is one of the three starter Pokemon a beginning trainer may select to start their journey."

"The thing is that this Froakie is a bit different. It refuses to listen to any of its trainers in battle, and sometimes it would just run away because it doesn't like its trainer."

Paul became bored with his tea and chimed in, "so what your saying is that Froakie refuses to be with a weak trainer and wants to be with a trainer that it believes is strong enough."

Sycamore glanced towards Paul's direction, "yes, that's one way to view it". Sycamore looked back at Ash, "Several trainers have already gone to my lab to return Froakie".

Ash, Bonnie, and Clemont gasped, "You mean more than one!?"

"I'm sure there is a reason, maybe the way Paul explained it could be one of them" Sycamore added.

"Gar Gar" they suddenly heard a cry where Froakie was resting.

"Cool, check it out, a Garchomp" Ash, Bonnie, and Clemont all stood excitedly.

"Garchomp lives here at the lab. It has a good heart" Sycamore walked over to Garchomp and petted the mach Pokemon, "don't worry, Froakie will be alright. You can thank these people".

Ash came up to Garchomp and petted him on the head as well, "nice to meet you Garchomp. You really care a lot about Froakie don't you".

"Gar Gar" replied Garchomp.

Bonnie became excited, "can I pet Garchomp too. I've never seen a real Garchomp before".

"Of course, Garchomp would love that" Sycamore proceeded to pick up Bonnie so that she could pet Garchomp on the head.

"Oh you're so cute and you like me" Bonnie was really enjoying herself.

"Professor, I've heard much of your research on Pokemon evolution, is it true?" Clemont asked curious.

"Sure, there is a lot more Pokemon here in the lab."

Bonnie couldn't hold her excitement, "really, I want to see them, I want to see them now".

"Whoa, I'm sure there is something we could do about that. Cosette look after Garchomp won't you?" Sycamore turned to one of his assistants.

"Of course" she responded. But something was off. Garchomp wouldn't budge from his current spot, "What's wrong Garchomp?" Asked Sycamore's assistant.

Sycamore took Bonnie and Clemont to the other Pokemon while Paul trailed behind them. Ash stayed behind to talk to Froakie for a bit, "Hey Froakie, I just wanted to thank for saving Pikachu, we think you are a great Pokemon. Any trainer who wouldn't want as a partner must not be too smart" Froakie took a look at Ash before falling back to sleep.

Ash exited Froakie's room and headed over where the others were. But it seemed that Garchomp was following him as well. The assistant continued to ask Garchomp what was wrong, but to no avail.

Ash made it to where the others were. Bonnie was busy playing with the Pokemon, Paul was, well being Paul, and Clemont and Sycamore were making conversation.

Clemont noticed ash, "So how is Froakie?"

"He's doing better, Froakie is really strong" Ash responded with confidence.

"Well that's great" Clemont then looked behind Ash, "Wait, why is Garchomp here?" Ash turned to see Garchomp get closer and closer to him.

"Garchomp what's wrong?" at that moment Garchomp lowered its head towards Ash's waist and began to search for something, "He-hey, Garchomp that tickles" Ash began to laugh uncontrollably as Garchomp kept looking for something.

Everybody went to Ash except for Paul, "Ash, are you okay?" Clemont asked confused.

"I ca-can't take it" Ash couldn't take the tickle attack from Garchomp anymore and tears were beginning form in his eyes. **(And just in case you didn't know, tickle is a real Pokemon move… I know right. Garchomp can't learn it, but it's pretty self-explanatory.)**

"It looks like Garchomp is searching for something" Sycamore tried to explain Garchomp's strange behavior.

"But what could Garcomp possible looking for" Clemont added.

Ash finally reached a point where it was unbearable and he took a couple of huge steps back before falling to the ground, "Gar-chomp, I-I can't take it, wha-what are you looking for."

At that moment a bright white light came from one of Ash's pokeballs attached to his belt.

"Gi-ble?" The white light revealed Gible, mouth agape as always.

"Hey look it's a Gible. Cool! Ash I didn't know you had a Gible" Bonnie once again became excited at seeing a new Pokemon.

"Yeah, I caught Gible in Sinnoh. So Gible, what's up?"

Gible didn't respond, it just stared at Garchomp, "Gi-ble". Then without warning, Gible launched at Garchomp's head and attached itself to its head using its powerful jaws.

"Ah! Gible, I told you to stop biting everything" Ash began to try and pry Gible off of Garchomp.

"Well" Sycamore and everybody else sweat-dropped a little at the scene in front of them, "I wouldn't be too worried, takes a lot to rattle Garchomp".

Ash managed to pry Gible from Garchomp, "Gible, what got into you?"

Gible replied by latching itself onto Ash's head this time, "Hey!"

"Ash! Are you okay" Clemont was surprised and worried how Gible chomped down onto Ash's head like that.

"It's okay Clemont" Ash turned towards Clemont showing he was fine, "This is just how Gible shows affection".

"Pika!"

"Really now" Clemont pushed up his galsses. He has never seen a Pokemon show affection like that before.

Ash removed Gible from his head, "I wonder what got into Gible".

"Professor Sycamore, you don't think that Garchomp sensed Gible's presence" Clemont turned to Sycamore.

"My thoughts exactly Clemont" Sycamore approached Ash and Gible, "It looks like Gible has a lot of energy Ash".

"Yeah, there's never a moment when Gible is still" Ash looked at Gible who was in his arms.

"Well then, don't you think it would be a good idea to burn off that energy in a battle" Sycamore proposed a battle.

"A battle? Between who?" Ash looked confused.

"Well, me and Garchomp versus you and Gible. I think there is a reason why Garchomp wanted to see Gible, what better way is there to reach the answer than a battle."

"Really?" a determined look appeared on Ash's face, "Alright then, let's do this, ready Gible…. Gible?" Ash turned to see Gible but he was gone.

"Hahaha, that tickles Gible" Bonnie giggled and everybody turned to see Gible attatched to Bonnie.

"Ah! Gible stop doing that!" yelled Ash while Clemont tried to pull the land shark Pokemon off.

* * *

The entire group moved to a large grassy clearing in the lab for the battle.

"Ash, remember that I'm a Pokemon researcher, not a Pokemon battler, so I'm not that good, go easy on me."

_"I call BS on that" _Paul thought to himself as he looked on from his current perspective as a spectator.

"Alright Gible, let's do this."

"Gible!"

"Now Ash, could you give me a second before we begin. Sophie, can you get my guitar please."

_"Wait, Guitar?"_ Ash was wondering if he had heard right.

"Right here Sycamore" Sophie handed Sycamore a dark brown, wood Guitar which was a bit worn.

"Ah yes, thank very much Sophie" She walked back to the sidelines.

"Now, we can begin" a glint appeared in Sycamore's right eye and he began to play his guitar. **(Commence Professor Sycamore's theme song. Hon hon hon, French level over 9000 croissant. I'm sorry, I'm terrible)**

Ash was more than a bit surprised. Was he really going to battle him while playing that guitar?

"U-uh, yes" Clemont the refree began slowly, "this will be a one on one match, begin!"

Garchomp began moving to the music but Ash made the first move, "Gible, rock smash!"

Gible charged Garchomp at top speed with its fist glowing white, "Gible!"

"Dragon claw please" Garchomp smoothly avoided Gible's attack and sent Gible flying.

"Gible!" Ash called out in shock.

"Wow! It dodged and attacked all in one motion" Clemont couldn't believe how smooth Garchomp moved.

"Again" Sycamore directed as calm as can be.

"Chomp!" Garchomp soared in the air and smash a Dragon Claw into Gible, sending the land shark pokemon crashing to the ground.

"Gible! Are you okay" the raven haired trainer seemed rattled. This wasn't the first time he faced a musician in battle. But it was never to this extent or level, the movements were too perfect, Garchomp never broke rhythym, and Sycamore just kept playing those same cords.

"Gi-Gible!" Gible stood up quickly.

"Can you explain this?" Paul looked over to Sophie.

"Oh, of course. When Augustine began traveling on his own with Pokemon, he developed his own battle style. That same guitar and that exact same song. He would never battle without his guitar and that song. Thus he became very difficult to defeat. His battles attracted a lot of attention, mostly the attention of females" she explained.

** "**You where one of the girls, weren't you" Paul said simply.

"U-uh, wa-wait, what" she began to stutter as a light pink he appeared on her face.

Paul turned back to the battle, "nevermind".

Ash quickly realized he was in trouble, so he called on Gible's strongest move, "Gible, Draco Meteor!"

Gible charged up a powerful orange ball of energy in its mouth and launched in the air, it then exploded at the highest point and rained back down of the field.

"Garchomp" is all that Sycamore called out.

"Gar!" with great speed and agility Garchomp weaved in and out of the incoming projectiles. A large amount of dust was lifted in the air, obstructing everybody's vision for a moment. The dust cleared and revealed Garchomp, and to everybody's surprise, without a scratch on its body.

"Garchomp, follow suit" Garchomp launched its own Draco Meteor and rained hell on Gible.

"Gible! Roll and dodge!" Ash called out quickly.

Gible began to use quick and sharp movements as it rolled, stopped, and rolled again to avoid the projectiles.

"That's very good use of Gible's physical makeup. I'm impressed" commented Sycamore.

_"Need to create momentum" _Ash grounded his teeth, "Gible, Dig!"

Gible made its way underground.

_"That's not a very good idea Ash"_ Sycamore thought to himself as he just kept on playing his guitar.

"Gible, Now!" Gible attacked from right under Garchomp's feet, but the attack completely whiffed. Garchomp moved out the way at the same time, as if it knew exactly where and when Gible would come up. Both seemed to be suspended in mid-air.

"Wow! Being a ground type itself must give Garchomp the ability to sense movements underground perfectly" Clemonts glasses almost fell off his nose.

"Garchomp, Dragon claw!" Sycamore ordered.

"Rock Smash!" Ash called hurridly, seeing that Gible was in no position to dodge the incoming attack.

Both Pokemon followed orders and Garchomp's blue energy covered claw clashed with Gibles bright white hand.

Both Pokemon struggled for a moment, but Gible was finally pushed out of the vicinity and sent flying back to Ash's side of the field.

Garchomp rolled to a stop, "Gible are you okay?" Gible struggled to get up this time,

"Gible!" Gible still seemed determined though.

_"This battle is getting lopsided; I might need to call it before Gible gets hurt."_ Clemont began thinking as a referee.

"You're getting beat by a guy with a French guitar, how does that make you feel" Paul gave Ash words of encouragement.

"Shut up!" Ash turned back to the battle, "Gible, Dragon Pulse!"

Gible charged a turqoiuse ball of energy in its mouth and fired it at Garchomp.

"Knock it away with Dragon Claw" Sycamore called out smoothly.

The incoming Dragon Pulse was met with Garchomp's glowing claw. The Dragon Pulse was sent away harmlessly as it dissipated.

"Follow up with Dragon Claw" Garchomp quickly went on the offensive and charged Gible.

_"It's going on the attack, this is our chance" _Ash quickly thought.

"Gible, you know what to do, turn this match around!" he called out.

_"Ash, don't tell me you think Garchomp will fall for that. Garchomp was a Gible once after all" _Sycamore left it up to Garchomp at this point.

Garchomp was closing in and Gible opened its mouth wide, _"Closer and Gible can catch it and we can end this with Draco Meteor"._

This turned out to be wishful thinking by Ash when Garchomp wisely stopped right in front of Gible and sent him flying through the air with a flick of its tail, "Gi-bllllle!" cried the land shark Pokemon as it began to wave its limbs frantically as if it were trying to fly.

"Gar!" Garchomp was not done, as it soared in the air and met Gible with a Dragon Claw.

Gible stood no chance as once again it hit the ground hard, "Gible! Can you still go?" Ash asked trying to keep his Pokemon going.

_"That's it, I'm calling the match" _Clemont began to raise his right arm to signal Garchomp as the winner and call an end to the battle.

Ash saw this and his blood pressure spiked a bit, "what are you doing! We're not done yet!"

Clemont didn't like the tone in Ash's voice, "This match is over. Gible's going to get hurt."

Ash stared daggers at Clemont who didn't appreciate it, "This is not a gym battle and this is not the Pokemon League. This match is over, Garch-"

"Gi-bllle!" Clemont was cut off by Gible roaring at the top of its lungs. Suddenly its arms became surrounded by a claw like blue aura.

_"Wait that's Dragon Claw." _Paul quickly identified the new move, _"I guess it got smacked around so much by Garchomp's Dragon Claw that it learned the move itself"._

Gible wasted no time closing the distance between the two Pokemon, both Garchomp and Sycamore seemed to be caught off guard.

Gible hit Garchomp square in the chest sending it sliding backwards as it closed its eyes in pain.

"Gible!" Gible stood revitalized.

"Alright Gible, I knew you could do it!" Ash called out, revitalized like his Pokemon.

Clemont took a look back at Ash, _"Gible responded to Ash's fighting spirit"_.

_"Interesting, it has been long since I've had a battle quite like this" _Sycamore looked towards Ash as he continued to play the cords on his Guitar.

But Gible wasn't done with the surprises as it began to glow, "Look! Gible's glowing. It's-" Bonnie pointed out.

"-Evolving" finished the older sibling.

_"Dumbass, your Pokemon are always trying to bail you out."_

Gible's body began to transform as it grew taller, its arms grew and ended in a claw, and it grew a tail.

"Gabite" roared the newly evolved Gabite.

"Interesting, I must say, what a turn of events" Professor Sycamore reached into his lab coat pocket, "Ash" he called out, "I was going to give this Pokedex to you later, but here, catch".

Sycamore, to everybody's surprise threw the pokedex across the battle field towards Ash.

"Wait, waaahh! Hot pokedex, hot pokedex" Ash juggled the pokedex as he was trying to get a hold of it. When he finally got a firm grip on it, he sighed in relief.

_"Well, Professor Sycamore definitely is different from the other professors. I can't imagine any of them challenging me to a battle, or throwing a pokedex at me. Aren't these things expensive?"_

Ash looked at the pokedex and after a second figured out how it worked. He scanned his newly evolved Gabite and dexter began, _"Gabite, the Cave Pokemon. Gabite loves sparkly things, thus it seeks treasures in caves, and digs up gems. It then hoards them in its nest._

"Wow! Gabite looks so cool!" Bonnie seemed she was about to faint because of all the new Pokemon she was seeing.

"It's not every day you see the full evolutionary line of a Pokmeon like Garchomp" Clemont stated, quite pleased.

_"Gabite gained some power, but it's still outclassed by Garchomp. Impressive will shown by the Pokemon, but this battle is over"_ Paul decided the match was over, so he pretty much stopped paying attention to it and he went to an almost Zen state of mind.

"Alright, time to rock n' roll, Gabite show them your new power, Dragon Claw!" Gabite proceeded to charge Garchomp with a locked and loaded Dragon Claw.

"Garchomp, counter it" commanded Sycamore.

As Gabite came in close, Garchomp skillfully avoided the attack and at the same time put Gabite in a headlock.

"No way" Ash said through clenched teeth.

_"The difference in Pokemon strength is still evident"_ Clemont thought to himself as he observed the battle.

Ash quickly thought on his feet, "Gabite, send a Dragon Pulse in the air!"

Gabite sent a single Dragon Pulse in the air, and it began to be pulled back down by gravity towards the two Pokemon.

"It's going to hit both of them!" Yelled Bonnie

"Garchomp pull away" called out Sycamore.

"Gabite, quickly get out of there" Ash called right after.

Both Pokemon avoided being hit by the stray Dragon Pulse.

Paul wasn't exactly in a Zen mode actually, he had one eye wide open, _"Interesting" _he quickly thought before closing his eye again.

"That was quite the move to get out of that situation, color me impressed" he then got the same glint in his eye he got in the start of the battle, "but this battle has dragged on enough. Garchomp, end this with Dragon Claw."

"I agree, Gabite! Show them your true power, Dragon Claw!" Ash called out in full force.

Both Pokemon sped toward center field, looking to end the battle in one final attack. Once at midfield they both gave a slight hesitation trying to throw the other of balance, and then they sent their respective Dragon Claw to their opponents jaw.

Once they made contact the air cracked, and both Pokemon had a claw at each other's jaw. Neither Garchomp nor Gabite backed off, as they stared each other down, with a Dragon Claw still at each other's jaw.

"Gabite!" Called out the raven haired trainer, "don't give up, stay on your feet!"

But after what seemed an eternity, Gabite couldn't hold anymore, its body became limp and it fell to the ground, knocked out.

Clemont gave a long look at Gabite before, "Gabite is unable to battle" Clemont raised his right arm towards Sycamore, "Garchomp and Proffesor Sycamore are the victors."

By the time Clemont finished declaring Sycamore the victor, Ash was already at midfield kneeling next to Gabite, "hey Gabite, are you okay" Gabite responded by slowly opening its eyes, "thanks Gabite, you were amazing out there, you fought with great fighting spirit. You learned a new move and evolved, you did everything possible. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

Professor Sycamore and Garchomp came up to Ash, "That was a great battle Ash; it has been a long time since I had a battle like that."

"Thank you too professor, thanks to that battle Gible learned a new move and evolved."

Gabite decided to get to its feet. It stumbled a bit before it got its balance, "be careful Gabite, don't force it" Ash worriedly tried to keep Gabite in its feet.

Gabite turned towards Garchomp and both just stared into each other's eyes, "Gabite" nodded the land shark pokemon.

"Gar" responded the Mach pokemon.

"What do you think is going on between the two professor" Ash asked trying to pinpoint exactly what was going on.

"You can't always be sure what is going on between two Pokemon, but I'm sure having this battle helped both of them" answered Sycamore.

Sophie then came back, "Professor Sycamore, you want me to take these two too the lab to get some treatment" she referred to Garchomp and Gabite.

"Of course, thank you Sophie" both Gabite and Garchomp followed Sophie into the lab to get some treatment.

"That was a great battle Ash" Clemont and Bonnie both came up to him.

"Thanks Clemont, but it was mostly Gabite, I didn't do so well" Ash gave a coyly smile.

"No way, you did great Ash, it was awesome how you got Gabite out of that bind when Garchomp had it" Bonnie said with her usual big smile.

"Thank you Bonnie that means a lot" Ash smiled towards the younger blond sibling.

Clemont was pleasantly surprised by Ash's attitude since he met him. He obviously cared for Pokemon deeply, but not only that, unlike most other trainers he had met, Ash was relatively humble and he didn't have a huge ego. He gave his Pokemon most of the credit and he didn't get overly upset about a loss. Sure, being a Pokemon trainer requires a high level of confidence in one's ability that sometimes can border over confidence and an oversized ego. But Ash is different, he carried himself well.

"Oh and Clemont" Ash broke Clemonts train of thought, "I'm sorry about what happened earlier."

"Don't worry about" Clemont began with a huge grin, "I get it, you were in the heat of the moment. But just one thing" then the air around Clemont seemed to darken and his expression seemed to darken as well, but his grin remained, "if you ever do that again, I will punch with my aibpom arm" he pulled out his aipom arm to drive home the point.

"Hn! I get it!"

"Good" Clemont seemed to calm down again, as he turned to talk to Sycamore.

"Wow, you made my brother really mad, that almost never happens" Bonnie said curiously.

_"Got it, don't mess with Clemont when he's referring a Pokemon battle" _Ash made a quick mental note, _"oh yeah, and that aipom hand is really cool too"_.

"Professor Sycamore" Paul walked up to him, "here is the mega stone."

"Ah, thank you very much Paul."

Ash then pulled out the key stone, "here professor".

"Thank you as well Ash."

"Hey guys what are those" Asked Clemont.

"Those are the stones professor Oak had us to deliver too Sycamore" explained Ash.

"Wait, professor, are those what I think they are" Clemont's eyes widened.

"These are mega stones, they are the key to mega evolution" Sycamore held up both stones, which shined in the sunlight.

"Professor, what is mega evolution exactly?" Ash asked curiously

"What if I told you that Pokemon evolution can go beyond what was thought previously."

"Wait, are you serious" this new idea of evolution was foreign to Ash. As most, he had learned that evolution happens as a Pokemon grows, but all Pokemon had a final stage, so was it possible to go beyond that?

"So professor, are you saying Garchomp can evolve again" at the moment Clemont's thought process was the same as Ash's.

"Possibly, we have some accounts of Garchomp evolving, but we're not sure of anything yet. That is what we are researching at the moment. So far we have come to conclude that these stones, as well as a strong bond between Pokemon are crucial to mega evolution. The thing is that it seems only a select few of pokemon can mega evolve, and we cannot be certain which Pokemon can mega evolve. It also seems that a Mega Pokemon can return to its original form."

The four looked on in awe as the heard this new information; the Pokemon world seemed to hold infinite secrets. Well, ok actually only three of them looked in awe. Paul looked bored as always.

Then all five of them heard a loud commotion going on back in the lab, "Gaaarrr!"

"What's that!"

"It sounds like Garchomp!" They all ran back to the lab, only to see Garchomp seemingly out of control and firing random Hyper Beams.

"Garchomp, whats wrong" Ash called out. He quickly saw the red collar on Garchomp and then he looked towards the three familiar people across the room, "Team Rocket!"

"Sweet, now we got Garchomp, so let's make our getaway" called out team rocket.

So Garchomp decided to show them the way out with a Hyper Beam, sending the trio flying, "We're blasting off again!"

Gabite and Froakie began to try and calm Garchomp calm down, but to no avail as it began firing more Hyper Beams.

"Get down!"Called out Paul as a stray Hyper Beam went just over everybody's heads.

"Garchomp must be in a lot of pain. We need to do something!" Ash advanced towards Garchomp despite the rampage.

At that moment Garchomp, who was in intense pain, bailed from the lab and began rampaging through the city.

"Garchomp, come back!" Ash knew he had to do something, "I'm going to go and help Garchomp" he said to everybody before he began to run outside as Pikachu hopped on his shoulder. He was met by Froakie and Gabite.

"Gabite!"

"Fro!"

"You guys are worried about Garchomp too" they gave him a nod, "alright let's go" Ash , Pikachu, Gabite, and Froakie all went after Garchomp.

"Brother, we have to go and help them" Bonnie took off as well.

"Bonnie, wait!" Clemont ran after her.

"Sophie, please look after the lab while I'm gone" Sycamore turned to his assistant.

"Right!"

Paul took a couple a steps outside, watching everybody as they ran, _"Tch, I have to go after him and make sure he doesn't kill himself"_ he took off as well and he soon noticed where they were all headed, _"Prism Tower"_.

* * *

**And there it is, chapter 6.**

**Thank you for reading, reviews are very much appreciated.**

**Just wanted to talk about something real quick. If you guys haven't heard, last week was the last hooray for Saturday morning animation in America in its traditional sense. CW aired its last batch of back to back Saturday morning cartoons, thus being the last broadcast network to hold a cartoon program block. If you were one of those like me who grew up watching the cartoons and anime's that aired Saturday mornings on the different channels you are probably familiar with the shows. Dragon ball z, yugioh, Pokemon before that got moved to cable (still ticked off about that), and all of those other great cartoons and anime. It is the end of an era and I will miss it, I woke up early all those Saturday mornings just to catch those shows. I don't know, it's probably not that important, but it was something to me. Now the new generation of ****spoiled brats**** kids get everything on demand. I'm just kidding about that last part though, it's not that big of a deal but yes I will miss it. So if you were one of those who loved to fill a bowl of cereal and watch the Saturday morning cartoons, take a second to mourn the loss of Saturday morning animation, it will be sorely missed.**

** I apologize for leaving on a somewhat somber note, but thanks for reading. This has been Pika-Bones, Peace!**


	7. New Beginnings

**Road to Becoming a Pokemon Master, With My Brother?**

** Hello ladies and gentlemen, I am your humble host Pika-Bones. I bring chapter 7, I hope you enjoy it greatly.**

** Discaimer: I don't own Pokemon, if I did I would change… well actually I wouldn't change that much surprisingly. I mean I have been able to watch most of it up until this point, so it must be doing something right. Right?**

* * *

New Beginnings

Garchomp rampaged through Lumiose, with the collar still around its neck hurting it badly and causing it to cloud its head. Ash followed Garchomp to Prism Tower, where Garchomp began climbing the symbol of Lumiose city. Ash was accompanied by Pikachu, Gabite, and Froakie. He looked up and saw Garchomp, at that moment he decided to do anything to help Garchomp.

"Ash, wait" Ash turned to see Clemont and Bonnie running to his side.

"What are you- planning to do" Clemont asked out of breath.

"I need to get closer too Garchomp" Ash said looking towards Garchomp worriedly.

"Wait, closer!?" Clemont exclaimed in surprised.

"I need to get that ring off of its neck" Ash focused his eyes on the collar that Team Rocket must have put on Garchomp.

"So you need to get closer? I think I can help" Clemont led Ash to a back entrance in Prism Tower. He then used his aibpom arm to unlock the door. Ash flinched a bit at the sight of the aibpom arm but then realized what he was doing.

"Wow! The power of science" he exclaimed with glimmering eyes.

"That's him, my brother the inventor" Bonnie stated pride fully

"I'm kind of good with these things."

"Alright! Let's go" Ash began to enter, when he heard a voice that made him freeze.

"What the do you think you're doing" Ash turned to see May.

"May? What are you doing here?" Ash asked, surprised to see May.

"There's a huge commotion going on and I came to see what was happening. What are doing Ash" May asked although she had a god idea what Ash was planning to do but hopping that it wasn't true.

"I need to help Garchomp, it's in pain" Ash looked up.

"Ash wait, think this through" May began to plead, then she was cut off by someone else.

"Dumbass, do you have a death wish" Paul cut in.

Ash gave him a quick, annoyed glance and looked back towards May, "I have to, if I do anything my conscience won't let me sleep" Ash entered Prism Tower.

"Ash, wait for me" May began towards the entrance, at the same time a stray Hyper Beam was fired right at her.

May was quickly pushed out of the way by the purple haired trainer as he dove in with Ash.

The resulting explosion knocked everybody back in different directions. Clemont protected Bonnie by holding her tight as they were pushed back by the force of the explosion. May was also forced back outside by the explosion.

Both Ash and Paul made it inside prism tower safely, "Hey! Are you guys okay" he called out. The entrance collapsed and they were blocked off from each other.

"Yeah! But go, hurry and please be safe" Clemont told Ash as he looked at him through a small opening in the rubble.

"Got it! He responded and he bolted with Paul right behind.

"So what's your plan" Paul said as they ran.

"I don't have one" Ash answered simply.

"Are you serious? Your about to face a Garchomp up their" Paul voice was mostly even, but the smallest hint of worry was there.

Ash began climbing the tower with Paul still behind, "I just can't sit still and not help Garchomp."

After a number of steps up the stairs they made it to Garchomp who was still in pain, "Garchomp!"

Garchomp looked at their direction, its eyes still glowing red thanks to the ring around its neck, and it sent a Hyper Beam towards them.

All of them quickly evade and ash called out, "Garchomp! Were here to help" but Garchomp could do was respond in pain and it quickly soared to the top of Prism Tower.

The most recent Hyper Beam created an explosion which made everybody in the vicinity recoil. May, Clemont, and Bonnie all looked on with worried faces.

* * *

"Serena, come quick, something unbelievable is happening" called out Grace to her daughter Serena.

Grace was a well-known Rhyhorn racer in the Kalos region, in fact she was a Rhyhorn racing champion. She lived in Vaniville town with her daughter Serena. One day Grace believed her daughter would follow in her footsteps and become a champion Rhyhorn racer, it was in her blood so it was only natural she would. Grace was wearing a simple black shirt with sweat pants, and a sweater tied around her waist and she was currently sitting in the living room of her house, watching a live news broadcast from Lumiose city.

"Unbelilivable huh? Well something unbelievable happend to my face, okay." Serena responded with a good amount of sass and a bandage on the bridge of her nose as she walked towards the living room after grabbing a water bottle.

Serena didn't exactly share the same love of Rhyhorn racing her mother had. On the contrary, she was starting to get sick of constantly getting thrown off Rhyhorn and landing on her face. Being one with the Rhyhorn is harder than it seems.

Like her mother she was comfortable in her pink sweatshirt and shorts, and her honey blonde hair was tied in a ponytail by a pink bow,

"Huh?" she began quietly as she sat on the couch, "what movie is this."

"No" began Grace, "This is live from Lumiouse city".

A couple of boys around Serena's age appeared on screen with a few other Pokemon as they approached the out of control Garchomp.

"I wonder if one of those boys is Garchomp's trainer" Grace asked no one in particular.

Serena suddenly became focused on the raven haired trainer with the red cap strangely, did she know him?

* * *

_"I need to get to Garchomp" _Ash quickly looked around and found what he was looking for. He ran towards a ladder built into the building and he began climbing. Paul reluctantly followed.

As they began climbing Delia's words began to bounce around in his head, _"keep an eye on him, be there if things get tough"_.

_"I can't let anything bad happen to him right now, I'll never be able to face ."_

As Ash began to climb Prism Tower to its peak, Clemont felt a surge of confidence swell up in him.

"Ash really is amazing when it comes to helping Pokemon!" Bonnie told her brother

The memories he had already made with Ash in just one day flashed in front of him. A determined look appeared on his face, "I can't just stand here; I need to get up there."

Clemont ran towards the rubble that blocked the entrance and he began to move the rocks to create a small enterance.

May quickly saw this and she quickly went over to help, "Hi my name is May".

Clemont looked towards her, "I'm Clemont" he responded still moving the rocks out of the way.

"Don't you dare forget about me!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"And this is Bonnie" he said with a small smile.

They were able to make a small opening through the rubble and they entered the tower.

"So I'm guessing Ash has something with you being here?" May asked Clemont as the quickly ran.

"Yeah, it's funny because I barely met him today, but I feel like I know all I need to know about him. Are you a friend of his too?"

She gave him a determined look, "yup, now let's go and do what we can".

* * *

Ash made it to the highest point possible on Prism Tower, and he faced Garchomp. The sun had set at this point, allowing the city of lights to show off exactly why it was given that name.

He began to approach Garchomp who was still confused and hurt, "Garchomp, please let me help you".

Garchomp answered with a roar and a Hyper Beam. Ash and the Pokemon quickly evaded it. Unfortunetly, Paul was beginning to get to the top when the Hyper Beam came right at him.

Paul was able to dodge the Hyper Beam, but not before his hands were caught in it for a second, _"Gah! My hands, they burn" _He clenched his teeth in pain.

He was still hanging on the ladder but every second he hung on another shot of pain went through his hands.

May saw this from the lower level on the tower and yelled out, "Paul, are you okay!" She got no response, not a good sign.

Ash turned and saw Paul was still hanging on the ladder, "Paul, are you okay!"

"Just hurry and do what you need to do!"

Ash turned back, this was when Garchomp began to fire another Hyper Beam the Pokemon got out of the way but Ash's body suddenly froze, _"My back! I can't move!"_

The Hyper Beam went right at Ash,

"Pika!"

"Fro!"

Ash prepared himself for the hit, but it never came. He opened his eyes to find Gabite in front of him, blocking the Hyper Beam with its body.

"Gabite!" Gabite sank his claws into the building and was able to fight of the Hyper Beam.

"Gabite, thanks" Ash wasn't surprised Gabite helped him out, but he was a little surprised by the strength it showed, taking on that Hyper Beam straight on.

"Pika" growled the Mouse Pokemon

Pikachu seemed to have had seen enough from Garchomp and began to attack, but Gabite jumped in front of both him,

"Ga-bite!" Cried the Cave Pokemon.

"Wait, Pikachu, Gabite is right, fighting Garchomp is not the answer" he began to walk up to Garchomp again, "hey Garchomp, you know I won't hurt you, I'm only trying to help. I know you're in pain, we can help. Just let me get that ring off of you".

It seemed lie Ash's words were getting through to Garchomp and it began to fight the influence of the device. But another wave of pain seemed to go through Garchomp's body and it began to back pedal towards the edge of the tower, Garchomp was about to fall.

Ash's eyes widened, "Garchomp no!"

"Froakie!" Froakie wasted no time, it reacted quickly to the situation and threw its frubbles at Garchomp's feet, stopping it from falling.

"Good job Froakie! Hurry, let's get that ring off Garchomp" Ash, Pikachu and Gabite ran towards Garchomp. Ash jumped right onto Garchomp and pulled on the ring, but it was stuck tight.

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!" He commanded.

Pikachu obliged and broke the ring with a steel hard tail.

With that, Garchomp's rampage was over. It fell to its knees in pure exhaustion. Ash and Gabite took a knee right next to Garchomp, and began trying to comfort Garchomp after that whole ordeal.

Pikachu quickly ran to them but unknown to all of them, Garchomp's random Hyper Beams had weakened the platform. Before it could take another step the floor platform underneath crumbled and Pikachu began free falling off of Prism Tower.

"Pikachu!" Cried out the raven haired trainer. Ash didn't hesitate as he jumped after his best friend.

Everybody watching, on T.V. or on site, gave a collective gasp.

"No!" Paul cried out as he was finally able to make it to the platform. He reached for his Pokeball but hesitated for a split second as more pain went through his hands, "Gah! Honchcrow, catch them!" He threw the Pokaeball and the Big Boss Pokemon appeared in a flash of light.

"Crow!" Cried the flying type as it dove for Ash and Pikachu.

At this point Ash had reached Pikachu, and was beginning to approach pavement. He instinctively put his head down and did what he could to protect Pikachu.

Honchcrow was begging to close in on the two, and it opened up its talons ready to snatch them out of the air, but it would be close.

Then out of nowhere a spectacular yellow streak of light took Ash out of the air, thus leaving Honchcrow befuddled as pavement rapidly closed in.

"Honchcow!" cried the flying type as it quickly began to regain its composure, straightening itself out before hitting the pavement at top speed.

Honchcrow leveled out and began to fly away from the area and gave a glance back, "Honchcrow crow (That was _too_ close)" then it turned back around only to be met by a lamppost,

"Crow" cried weakly the Big Boss Pokemon, and the spectators around Honchcrow gave a collective, "Ouch, that looks like it hurt".

Paul blinked a couple of times at Honchcrow before turning his attention towards Ash, the mysterious looking Blaiziken, and another mysterious character.

"Ash, Pikachu, thank goodness you're okay! Thank you very much for helping Garchomp" Professor Sycamore ran towards Ash and Pikachu after they were saved by the streak of light that turned out to be the Pokemon he saw before.

"Of course! But professor, what is that Pokemon."

Ash and Sycamore both looked towards the Pokemon and another figure standing beside it. The Pokemon then quickly changed forms to the more familiar Blaziken.

"That must have been Blaziken's mega evolution" concluded the professor.

"Really!?"

"Another research topic for me" responded Sycamore.

Ash quickly cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled out, "Mega Blaziken, thanks for everything".

"PikaPikaaaa."

* * *

"What a relief" sighed Serena seeing that everything turned out okay. Suddenly the T.V. broadcast showed a close up of the raven haired trainer.

"Wait, could it be?" asked Serena to no one in particular.

Grace overheard her, "what is it Serena".

Serena didn't answer, she just bolted from her seat and quickly ran up the stairs to her room,

"What got into her?" Questioned Grace.

Serena quickly went under her bed and pulled out a box. A box filled with her most important items. Amongst these items was a blue handkerchief with a small pokeball design. Serena took it from the box and she held it in her hands for a moment and memories from a professor Oak summer camp came flooding back into her mind.

_"It must be him, I know it's him."_

* * *

"Ash! Are you okay" May, Clemont, and Bonnie ran up to Ash.

"Yeah, thanks to mega Blazinken" Ash responded.

"Megan Blaziken? Is that what saved you" May knew what a Blaziken was but what was a Mega Blaziken.

"Yup, Iearned about mega Pokemon from professor Sycamore, I'll explain it to you later" he gave her a small smile.

"So" began Sycamore, "if any of you need a place to stay tonight, my lab is available".

"Actually, that would be much appreciate professor" responded Clemont with a coyly smile.

"Yeah, thank you professor" affirmed Bonnie.

"Ash?" Sycamore turned to him.

"Thank you professor, but I think I might have somewhere to stay tonight already" Ash turned to May, "so May, is that offer still open".

"Of course Ash" she answered happily with a smile.

"Clemont, Bonnie, do you guys want to meet up at the lab in the morning."

"Of course, we'll wait for you" answered Clemont.

"Alright, see you guys there." Ash turned, ready to go and turn in for the night when he realized, "wait, where is Gabite".

May looked around a bit before she pointed Gabite out, still on top of the tower, still next to Garchomp, "that's so sweet, Gabite is comforting Garchomp after the whole ordeal".

Ash gave a small smile, "yeah, that's awesome".

"What the hell were you thinking" Ash heard the familiar voice and turned to see Paul,

"So that was what I was forgetting" Ash said seemingly displeased.

"What do you think I was supposed to tell Mrs. Ketchum if you ended up splattered all over the pavement" Paul spat out.

"I was not about to let Pikachu die in front of me! " Ash managed to respond, the reality of the situation hitting him.

Ash then quickly fell to a knee as his hand went to his back,

"Ash, are you okay?" May asked worried as she went down to Ash's level.

"I'm fine, just tired" he managed to force out as he stood up gingerly.

May could not stop from becoming sad at seeing Ash in pain.

"I guess jumping of prism tower counts as overdoing it" remarked Paul, "here" Paul surprised Ash when Paul helped him up and supported Ash as they made it back to the hotel May was staying at.

May lead the way as they walked into the hotel, entered the elevator, and made it too her room. The room had a couch and a T.V., a small kitchen, and a bedroom with two beds.

Once in the house Ash was able to make it to one of the beds under his own power,

"Thanks Paul" Ash fell asleep almost immediately.

"Well, I guess it is time to turn in."

May was gazing at Ash "Yeah, you're right" she then turned to Paul, "Oh I just remembered, the hotel room only has two beds, so…"

"No worries, I can crash on the couch, do you mind?" Paul asked politely.

"Of course not, good night. Oh wait" May walked over to a closet in the room and took out a pillow and a blanket, "here you go" she said with a tired smile as she handed him the pillow and blanket.

Paul gave a slight nod, "thanks" and he left the room.

May went into the bathroom and changed into her sleepwear. She then slowly walked over to her bed and crawled in,

"Good night Ash" she said softly before turning off the lamp next to her bed. She stayed awake in bed for a while looking at the ceiling, having the day's events repeat in her mind. Sleep slowly came over her though and she was soon fast asleep.

* * *

Paul was in the living room, still awake, and treating his hands. He used some burn heal on his hands, it wasn't medicine created for humans but it helped, even if it was just a bit. He then bandaged up his hands and laid on the couch.

Like May, the day's events repeated in his mind, as well as the time on the boat. He tried to shove those thoughts out of his mind and just focused on tomorrow when he starts his on the road through Kalos. If he can't get a gym battle here, he might as well go to the next closest gym, which was in santalune city.

Paul finally fell asleep and finally after an eventful day, all three drifted off to their own dreams as Lumiose continued to shine throughout the night.

* * *

"Breakfast. Here you go Rhyhorn" Serena placed a bowl of Pokemon food in front of her mother's Rhyhorn, "eat up".

Serena began to pet Rhyhorn, "you know what, I think something interesting is going to happen today".

_"Looks like I'm going to Lumiose city."_

May began to stir in her sleep as light seeped into the room. She slowly began to open her eyes and she turned to see Ash, but the bed was empty, _"Is he up already"._

Then a smell hit her nose, _"Is something burning?"_

"Dumbass!" May suddenly heard Paul yell and she quickly got up and went towards the kitchen.

She was right, something was burning. Ash and Pikachu, the latter who was oblivious to the situation thanks to a sexy bottle of Ketchup, were in the kitchen with a pan on the stove and something burning in it.

Paul came from the sink and doused the small fire with a pot of water.

"Ash! What happened" asked an energized May.

"Well" began Ash as he scratched the back of his head, "I thought I would make some breakfast for us. I tried to follow Brock's recipe, but it sort of backfired."

"Don't you remember last time you tried to cook something, the house caught fire" Paul reminded Ash.

"You're exaggerating; the house did not catch fire. The kitchen did though."

Paul smacked Ash upside head before heading out of the kitchen.

"Ouch! I just wanted to make some breakfast for everybody."

"That's sweet Ash, but maybe cooking isn't your forte. Anyways, I was thinking we could to this great restaurant for breakfast" suggested May.

Ash looked disappointed for a second, but this was quickly replaced by hunger, "alright what are we waiting for, let's go!" Ash scrambled for the door.

"Ash, wait! We need to get dressed first."

May, Ash, and Paul all got dressed, but Paul was the first to head for the door, "Paul, where are you going. Don't you want to go to the restaurant?" asked May as Paul reached for the doorknob.

"No thank you, I already ate and I'm heading off" Paul turned the knob and left.

May stared at the door for a bit before grabbing putting on her head scarf and grabbing her yellow bag, "Ash, are you ready?"

"I've been ready. I still don't understand why it takes you so long to get ready" Ash walked outside right behind May.

"Hmph, you never change do you. Do you really want to have this same argument like last time?" she looked away as she out on her head scarf.

"Sure, I'll give you first take" grinned Ash.

"I don't think you want that, I'm the one paying for breakfast and last I heard you're broke" May crossed folded her arms in front of her.

"Don't use my lack of money against me. Anyways I have my own way at getting food."

"What, begging" she gave Ash a grin.

"No, persuasion" Ash looked away.

"Please, if it weren't for brock you would've withered away in hunger by now."

"Look who's talking, you were always whining when there wasn't any food around. You were completely lost, if it wasn't for me and Brock you wouldn't have made it back too Petalburg."

"You were pretty clueless yourself for an 'experienced' traveler. You're so naïve sometimes it's unbelievable."

"Oh, so that's what you think" Ash stopped walking and turned to May.

"Yeah, that is what I think" May leaned in with her hands on her hips.

"Pika-Pi" Pikachu who was walking with them tapped May on the leg.

She then turned her head, "hey looks like were here".

"Hm" began Ash as he turned around to see the restaurant.

Then both of their stomachs began to growl. They looked at each other for moment before a faint blush appeared on each other's faces. Both began trying to hold in their laughter, but after a few seconds they couldn't hold it in anymore and they began laughing uncontrollably while they held each other's shoulders too avoid falling over.

"I guess when were hungry we can be a little-"

"-Vicious?" Ash finished the comment.

"I was thinking irritable" may gave a small giggle, "but vicious works too".

"Come on, I'll race you, first one to eat one of everything on the menu gets to choose what to eat later."

May gave a determined look, "you're on".

They both ran into the restaurant, prepared to eat every last morsel of food in the building.

* * *

"So was I right?"

"Yea, that was delicious, thanks for inviting me May" Ash said gratefully

"Of course Ash, my pleasure" May rested her head on her hand.

"So what are you going to now" May asked.

"Wait a minute, what time is it!" Ash found a clock in the restaurant, "I have to go to the lab and see Bonnie and Clemont, and get Gabite. Got to go!"

Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder and he bolted from his seat and began to run, but May stopped him quickly,

"Ash! Do you know where you're going?" called out May.

Ash tripped and fell to the ground when he heard May, "Not really" he responded while on the floor.

"Come on, let's take a cab" she told him as she helped him off the ground, "this is a big city, it's easy to get lost, especially when you lack a sense of direction"

"Oh, are we taking shots at each other again."

"Come on Ash, their probably waiting for you."

They both took a cab to professor Sycamore's lab. Ash and May walked into the lab which was still a mess after the incident and they found Sycamore with Bonnie, Clemont, Froakie, Gabite, and Garchomp.

"Pika-Pi" Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder to greet the Pokemon.

"Hey Ash! You came" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Hey you guys, how'd you sleep?" asked Ash.

"Best sleep I've had in a while" responded Clemont with a smile.

"So professor, how's Garchomp."

"Garchomp is recovering quickly, it'll be at one hundred percent soon" Sycamore place his hand on Garchomp's head.

"That's great Garchomp, I hope you get fully healed soon."

"Gar" nodded the Mach Pokemon.

"Alright Gabite, let's go" Ash pulled out Gabite's pokeball, but Gabite gave Ash a disappointed look.

"Gabite, what's wrong" Ash noticed Gabite's long face.

After Ash asked this, Garchomp came up to Garchomp and began nuzzling Gabite, causing the Mach Pokemon too blush.

"Oh that's so cute!" squealed May.

"They've been like that most of the morning" Sycamore said with a smile.

"Wait" Clemont began as he went behind Gabite and Garchomp, "look at that, Garchomp is female and Gabite is male. You can tell by the difference in their fins.

_"Whats going on" _thought Ash confused, although he did have some idea what was going on.

"Gabite" began Ash as he suddenly became serious, "do you want to say here for a while".

"Ga-bite" let out the Pokemon slowly.

Ash then walked up to Sycamore. He bowed his head down slightly and began, "Professor Sycamore, I realized from our battle yesterday that you were and are still a great trainer. I also learned that Garchomp is on a whole other level in power and skill" Ash took a deep breath of air, "please take Gabite into your lab and allow him to train with Garchomp" Ash kept his head down, "and maybe you could help as well. I want Gabite to grow and become as strong as Garchomp. If you don't want to take Gabite in, I'll understand."

Sycamore matched Ash's seriousness for a moment before he gave out a small chuckle. Ash looked up in surprise wondering what joke he missed.

"Ash, don't be so serious" began Sycamore after he stopped chuckling, "Of course I'll let Gabite in. Garchomp and I are in indebted to you. I've been meaning to train with Garchomp more anyways, and Gabite will be a great training partner for Garchomp, and maybe a little bit more. I promise you, when the time comes that you need to call on Gabite, he will be ready" Sycamore turned to Gabite, "are you willing to put in the work Gabite, to become stronger."

"Gabite!" roared the Cave Pokemon in reponse.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Ash walked over to Garchomp and looked him in the eyes, "so you want to stay here for a while".

Gabite gave a small nod.

"That does it then. Let's make a promise that we'll both train hard in the meantime and become stronger, so that the next time we battle together we will be unstoppable" Ash put his arm out and closed his hand in a fist, which Gabite met halfway with his claw.

Ash gave Gabite a huge grin. This earned Ash another bite to the head,

"Ah! I guess things never change" Ash trying to hide some pain. Gabite's show of affection earned a small laugh from everybody, "but seriously, Gabite let go!"

Gabite released Ash, "I know you like doing that Gabite but you're not a Gible anymore".

Gabite nodded in understanding, but that would be difficult.

"Pay attention to Sycamore and behave alright."

Sycamore then walked up to Ash, "Ash, if you don't mind, I forgot to give Paul a new pokedex. If you see him, give this to him, okay".

Ash took the pokedex and put it away, "alright professor, were going to hit the road, but I still need to register for the pokemon league".

"Brother, let's take Ash there" said Bonnie pulling on her brother's jumpsuit.

"You guys know where it is? Would you mind showing me the way."

"We would be more than happy to do that Ash" responded Clemont.

"Alright, what are we waiting for, let's g-Ah" Ash turned only to be met by a ball of frubbles.

"Fro" too everybodies surprise, Froakie approached Ash with a Pokeball.

"Froakie?" Ask kneeled down to Froakie's level.

"I think Froakie has chosen its trainer" Sycamore stated with a genuine smile.

"Is that true Froakie? Do you want join us on our journey" Ash picked up the Pokeball in his hand.

"Froakie!" cried the Bubble Frog Pokemon in affirmation

Froakie tapped the pokeball causing it to be caught by the Pokeball. The red and white capsule gave a couple shakes before giving the signature 'Ping', completing the capture.

"Alright Pikachu! We just caught are first friend in Kalos"

"Pika!"

"It's great to have on the team Froakie" Ash looked at the Pokeball, which responded with a shake.

"Thanks for everything professor. Take care Garchomp, and I'll see you again soon Gabite."

Clemont and Bonnie led the way as all four them headed to get Ash registered for the Pokemon league.

* * *

"And that's it, your registered for the Pokemon league" Nurse Joy said with her usual cheerful smile.

"Thank you Nurse Joy" Ash said as he put away his pokedex.

"And take this as well" Nurse Joy handed Ash a badge case with the Kalos Pokemon league symbol.

"Thank you, looks awesome."

"Well Ash, looks like your all set" May said as she, Clemont, and Bonnie were waiting for them.

"That's right, and now to conquer the Kalos Pokemon League." Ash was about to take off outside, but then he realized something, "Oh wait, I need to do something."

"What is it?" Bonnie asked.

Ash looked around and finally found what he was looking for. He began to walk towards the video phones, "I've been so caught up with what happened the last few days, that I forgot to make a couple of calls."

Ash walked up to the video phones and dialed a phone number. After a few rings Delia Ketchum appeared on the screen, "Ash! Hello sweetie. It had been a while since you last called, I was getting worried".

"I'm sorry mom. Paul and I were finally able to make it to Kalos and we finished that errand for Professor Oak. I'm about to start taking on the gyms".

"That's great sweetie, I'm just glad you're okay. By the way, isn't Paul there with you."

"Um, about that, Paul already left lumiose, he's headed for the next city. But I'm sure he'll call soon."

Delia's expression changed as she was deep in thought. She quickly came back though, "well that's fine, I just thought you two might travel together". Delia quickly changed the subject, "Ash it looks like you've already made some friends in Kalos, and met up wih some old ones."

"Hello Mrs. Ketchum" May stepped into the conversation.

"Hello May, it's been a long time. You just keep growing into a beautiful young lady don't you May."

"Thanks Mrs. Ketchum, you look great too" May replied with a small blush.

"And who might these two be" Delia looked towards the two blondes behind Ash.

Bonnie quickly ran up to the screen so that heer face covered it completely, "hello Mrs. Ketchum. My name is Bonnie!"

"Why hello Bonnie."

"Bonnie!" began Clemont sternly as he removed Bonnnie from the screen with his aipom arm, "and I'm her brother Clemont".

"Nice to meet you Clemont" Delia then turned back to look at all of them, "it's nice to know that Ash is surrounded by such good friends".

"Alright Mom, I need to talk to professor Oak, I'll see you soon."

"Sure thing Ash, just remember to be careful, and come home safely. Aslo don't forget to change your-"

"Mom!" Ash cut off Delia, "stop doing that!"

"Bye, take care of each other" Delia said with a cheerful smile before the screen went dark again.

"Ash" began Bonnie, "what was she telling you to not forget".

"Nothing Bonnie, nothing" Ash said with his arms folded.

Ash then dialed Professor Oak's number. But instead of professor Oak showing up on screen, Rotom showed up causing Ash to jump, "Hi Rotom".

_I'm never going to get use to that" _he thought to himself.

"Hi Ash! Looks like you made it to Kalos. Did you do what I asked?" Oak came up and greeted all of them.

"Yeah professor, we were able to deliver the mega stones to Sycamore, and look" Ash took out his Pokeball and released Froake.

"I got Froakie. He was at professor Sycamore's lab."

"Wow, your first Kalos Pokemon" Oak exclaimed. "Thank you and Paul again for doing this for me. Actually where is Paul?"

"He sort of, kinda left already."

"Is that so? Well I guess not much can be done with that. But I wish you luck Ash in the Kalos league."

"Don't worry professor, this time I will win" Ash raised his fist and Pikachu followed this action, "Pika!"

"I'm sure you will do great. But now I must take my leave, take car Ash my boy."

"Wait professor, I need you to do a small favor for me."

* * *

"Hey Ash" the four were standing around a fountain, "You said you're going to the Santalune city gym right. I think I found the best route".

"That's great Clemont, thanks."

"Well then, what are we waiting for, let's hit the road" Clemont and Bonnie began to lead the way.

"Wait you guys, you don't have to show me around anymore."

"What do you mean Ash, we want to come. Were very good friends now right?"

"Yeah of course, but are you sure?"

"Were serious, coming with you and traveling will be great for both of us. You showed me want it means to have courage. So we would like to come along, if you don't mind."

Of course" exclaimed Ash, "traveling with friends is much better."

"Well then let's go" Clemont and Bonnie went on ahead.

"Come on Ash, let's go" May began to follow.

"May, you're coming?" Ash asked a bit confused.

"Of course, why not."

"What about your contests."

"M-my… contests?" May said with a blank face.

_"Crap! My contests! I was so excited about traveling with Ash I forgot about them"_ May turned around and looked in a red device she had in her bag. She began to search about the contests she had to go to. Much to her relief there was really no contest she had to go to. Actually there was some time before her next contest. That's when an idea came to her.

She turned back to Ash who still looked confused, "May, are you okay".

May put on a confident expression, "don't worry Ash, you know me, I'm always one step ahead".

"Really? I never remembered you being one step ahead. Mostly a step behind actually" Ash looked up and put his finger to his chin as if remembering old times.

_"Really now? I'll get you back for that"_ May thought to herself with a somewhat irritated look.

"Actually there's a bit of time before my next contest. So I was thinking that at the very least, I could watch your first gym battle."

"That's great May" Ash said happily, "just like when we traveled through to Hoenn."

"Come on let's go guys" Bonnie and Clemont came running back when the two had not followed.

"Is everything okay?" Clemont asked

"Everythings fine Clemont. Actually I wanted you guys to meet a friend" Ash took out a Pokeball and released Bayleef.

"Bay!" cried the Leaf Pokemon.

"Wow! You have a Bayleef. So cool!" exclaimed Bonnie as she hugged Bayleef. Bayleef was surprised at first, but it happily received the hug and even returned it with its vines.

"Bayleef? That's a Johto starter isn't it" Clemont played with his glasses.

"Yup" Ash kneeled down to Bayleef, "I told you I would bring you to see Kalos. So you want to come with me for a while."

"Bay!" cried the Pokemon happily.

They next thing they knew Bonnie was on Bayleef's back, "Go Bayleef!"

Bayleef took off running around the fountain, and meeting the other Pokemon and people around.

"Are you sure that's safe Ash?" Clemont asked a bit worried.

"Don't worry, Bayleef is gentle, but she can be rowdy" Ash explained.

"Ash, those two things contradict each other" Clemont said more worried than before.

"Ahhh" yelled Bonnie as she fell off Bayleef.

"Bonnie! Are you okay!"

"Don't worry so much brother" Bonnie quickly got up and got back onto Bayleef's back, "again Bayleef!"

"Bay!" cried the Pokemon in approval.

* * *

Paul stood on a hill that over looked Lumiose city. It was a clear day with very few clouds and there was a small breeze that Paul silently enjoyed.

The events of the past few days with Ash were still on his mind, and he couldn't shake them. It was becoming annoying.

"I guess it's more than just words," Paul said to himself, "pathetic."

He decided he had wasted enough time and made his way back too route four and Santalune city.

He stepped onto the route and suddenly his eyes met up with that loser's brown eyes. The air became heavier with Paul's presence, like it usually does. He didn't seem to acknowledge the others.

Paul turned and continued to walk towards Santalune.

"Know what?" Clemont asked somewhat nervously.

"Nothing, were all going the same place. Come on let's go." They continued to walk with Paul out in front by a good distance towards Santalune city and both Ash's and Paul's gym battle.

* * *

**There it is. Thank you for reading and do all that reviewing fun stuff if you would like. Have a good a day. **

**Pika-Bones out, Peaceeee!**


	8. Pokemon Royal Rumble

**Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, I am your host Pika-Bones and I bring a new chapter, let's begin.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****digimon** **Pokemon**

* * *

Chapter 8: Pokemon Royal Rumble

_"I wonder what kind of Pokemon I will find in Kalos. I already know about Froakie, but obviously all these other Pokemon are foreign too me" _Ash was deep in thought as he and his friends, Bonnie, Clemont, and May were traveling through route 4 , their destination Santalune City and Ash's first Gym badge.

Ash was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard May say something. He turned to see her holding an imaginary camera and he quickly remembered what this was about.

"And we are back with May's expeditions. This time we are traveling through the foreign region of Kalos. What new adventures, Pokemon, and people will we find?"

Ash gave a small smile as he looked on. She hadn't changed at all either. She was still that sweet girl and caring girl with a great imagination.

"May! That looks like so much fun, can I help too?" Bonnie said enthusiastically

"Of course Bonnie" responded May with a smile, "there's always room in the May's expedition. I know let's call it Bonnie's and May's expedition through Kalos."

"Yay!" exclaimed Bonnie happily.

They had been walking for a few hours, with a couple of short breaks wedged between. Paul had walked straight through the whole time, and now was out in the distance, out of sight.

Ash didn't know if he should be relieved or not. On one hand, he still couldn't stand Paul and he was sure Paul felt the same way, on the other they were still brothers, and he had promised he would try and get along.

He was once again snapped from his thoughts when the bushes began to rustle near them.

"What was that" May asked

Everybody waited as the rustling continued. Then a small orange rodent like Pokemon jumped out of one of the bushes.

"What's that?" Ash asked no one in particular as he took out his Pokedex and scanned the foreign Pokemon.

_"Dedenne, the Antenna Pokemon. Its whiskers serve as antennas. By sending and receiving electrical waves, it can communicate with others over vast distances."_

Dedenne then targeted a berry that Bonnie was holding. Bonnie noticed this and keenled down to give the berry to the rodent like Pokemon. Dedenne happily took it and was prepared to sink its teeth into it.

"It's so cute" Bonnie's eyes began to sparkle and she turned to her beloved brother, "Clemont, please keep for me so that I can take care of it."

"I don't know" Clemont began slowly.

"Pleeease, I promise to take very good care of it" Bonnie pleaded

"Alright then" Clemont took out a Pokeball and decided to catch the newly met Pokemon. But before he could make another move, another Pokemon appeared. This time a small red, gray, and black Pokemon swooped down from the skies and quickly snatched the berry from the Dedenne, causing the small rodent Pokemon to cry and run off.

"Hey! That's Dedenne's, give it back" Bonnie demanded, yelling at the flying time which was perched at the top of a tree. The robin like Pokemon seemed to give no heed to the little blonde girl's demands, and it ate the berry whole.

"What Pokemon is that?" Ash began as he pulled out his Pokedex.

_"Fletchling, the Tiny Robin Pokemon. Fletching are friendly Pokemon with a beautiful lilting voice, but they are merciless to intruders that invade their territory."_

"Fletching huh, looks like a cool Pokemon" Ash began as his interest grew, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt" Ash ordered.

Pikachu quickly launched a lightning strike at the Fletchling. Fletchling though was not phased one bit as it easily dodged.

"Pikachu, keep attacking" Ash called out.

Pikachu continued to launch electric attacks, but to no avail as Fletchling dodged every single one of them.

"Wow, that Fletchling is really skilled" a small smile appeared on Ash's face, "Froakie, I need your help!" Ash released Froakie from his Pokeball, "Froakie, let's work together to catch Fletchling" Ash once again put his focus on Fletchling who was tantalizingly out of reach, "Froakie use Water Pulse and Pikachu use Electro Ball."

Pikachu began charging for the attack but Froakie stuck his arm out in front of Pikachu, "Froa-kie!"

Froakie then jumped into the trees and quickly ascended.

"Froakie, wait!" Ash called in surprise.

Froakie paid no heed to his trainers' words as it launched itself from the treetops and met Fletchling with a pound attack. But before Frokie could land the attack, Fletchling countered by firing white, crescent-shaped energy waves at Foakie.

"That's Razor Wind!" Clemont identified the attack.

Froakie was out of position and it was hit square in the chest by the Razor Wind and was knocked out of the air, back to earth. Thankfully Froakie managed to land on its limbs.

Froakie became frustrated and quickly responded by forming a Water Pulse, "Froakie, we need to work together, stop".

Ash's word fell on deaf ears as Froakie launched a Water Pulse at the flying type, which once again was easily evaded, but Froakie quickly followed as it jumped in in the air to get closer and began to form another Water Pulse.

This time around, Fletchling dove right at Froakie as its beak began to glow,

"Froakie watch out!" Ash called out, but at that point there was nothing he could do.

Froakie fired the Water Pulse at the diving Flecthling, but the Robin Pokemon skillfully spun around to avoid the attack and proceeded to land the peck attack on Froakie, causing the Blue Frog Pokemon to fall back down out of control, with its eyes tightly shut preparing for a hard landing.

Froakie would have hit the ground hard if it weren't for its trainer who caught him before hand, causing Ash to hit the ground hard due to the momentum.

Frokie opened its eyes with frustration still covering its face, but its expression quickly turned into an ashamed one once it realized it hurt its trainer.

"Are you okay Froakie?" Ash saw Froakie's expression and continued, "I'm okay, but Froakie, you can't battle by yourself like that. You're part of a team now" Ash looked into Froakie's eyes, "Do you trust me?"

Froakie gave Ash a nod.

"Alright then, let's catch us a Fletchling" Ash got back on his feet and Froakie joined Pikachu again.

Fletchling was getting bored so it decided to vacant the area.

"Hey, wait! Get back over here" Ash yelled towards the flying Pokemon, "Come on guys let's go after it." Ash, Froakie, and Pikachu chased after the Fletchling.

"Ash, wait!" May called out as she ran after them.

"Come on Clemont, they'll leave us behind" Bonnie ran after everybody with Clemont in tow.

* * *

Paul was walking with one hand deep in his pockets and the other holding a small book as he read.

He sensed something coming over head. He gave a small glance, and sure enough there was a Pokemon in the soaring through the sky. It was a Pokemon he had never seen before. Athough he made no attempt to identify it, he was curious.

That is when he heard a footsteps coming from behind. Suddenly Ash, Froakie, and Pikachu ran past him,

"Pikachu use Thunderbolt! Froakie use Water Pulse!" Called out the raven haired trainer.

Both Pokemon launched their respective attacks but missed their target,

"Damn, that Fletchling is quick" Ash said as he and his Pokemon kept chasing it, disappearing from Paul's sight.

* * *

The chase after Fletchling had taken Ash of the main route and deeper in the forest. Ash quickly formulated a plan as they chased the quick flying type, "Froakie, go into the treetops and keep chasing. Wait for my command."

"Froa-kie!" Nodded the Blue frog Pokemon as it went into the trees.

As they kept chasing Fletching, Ash began to see a clearing up ahead. As they reached the clearing though Ash soon realized it was not the clearing in the forest he had in mind. He stopped in his tracks as he soon came up to a large ravine. Fletchling had stopped and was hovering in the air, in almost a mocking fashion.

"Pikachu, Electro ball!"

"Pika!" cried the electric type as electricity began to condense in its tail, forming a ball of electricity. He proceeded to fire the attack at Flecthling. Once again though, Fletchling evaded the attack, but this time Ash was ready,

"Froakie, Water Pulse, now!" Froakie appeared out of the tree tops with a Water Pulse loaded. It finally had a clear shot at Fletchling and sent the Water Pulse at the elusive target.

_"We have it"_ Ash thought to himself excitedly. But his excitement was short lived when he heard something from the forest,

"Dark Pulse" a black and purple beam appeared from out of nowhere and collided with Froaikie's Water Pulse, canceling it out and causing a small explosion.

"Hey! Where did that Dark Pulse come from?" Ash asked in surprise. His question was answered when another Flying type came into view.

_"Honchcrow? Paul!"_ On cue, Paul came out of the woods.

"What was that" growled Ash.

Paul ignored Ash and walked up to the edge of the ravine,

"Dark Pulse again" commanded Paul.

Honchcrow began to fire another black and purple beam at Fletchling.

"Intercept, Thunderbolt!" Ash ordered and Pikachu quickly responded by firing a lightning strike, meeting the Dark Pulse and causing an explosion in front of Fletchling, causing the small flying type to be knocked back.

Paul glared at the three, who were standing just a few feet away,

"Don't interfere" he hissed.

"You're the one who got in the way first!" yelled Ash.

"Pika!"

"Fro!"

Paul quickly gave a quick order, "Use Sky Attack, get rid of these runts"

Honchcrow oblidged to its trainer command and prepared for the attack before diving straight for Froakie and Pikachu,

"Dodge that!" called out Ash

The Pokemon jumped out of the way, avoiding the Sky Attacking Honchcrow, but that left Ash open.

Ash became wide eyed as Honchcrow came right on top of him before the Flying type climbed in the last split second.

The speeding Hochcrow caused a strong wind as it climbed right in front of Ash, causing the trainer to struggle to keep his footing.

"Night Slash on the Fletchling, now."

Ash quickly realized that it was all a distraction as he saw Honchcrow come in on Fletchling.

Fletchling dodged the first Night Slash, but the second one knocked it of balance. Honchcrow went for the kill with the third.

"Quick Attack into Iron Tail!"

Pikachu came streaking into the picture and blocked theNight Slash with the steel hard tail.

"Honch?" let out a shocked Honchcrow.

"One more time!" called out Ash pointing with his index finger with a smile.

"Pika!" Pikachu contorted its body in midair and slammed a steel hard tail on top of Honchcrow's head,

"Crow!" cried the the Big Boss Pokemon.

Fletchling meanwhile took Pikachu's interference as a sign to vacant the area. Even a somewhat aggressive Pokemon like Fletchling new when it was time to get out of dodge.

"It's getting away! Pikachu, Froakie, come on" Ash and Froakie took off to the bottom of the ravine after the Fletchling while Pikachu followed soon after.

"Pull yourself together you stupid bird. After them" Paul began to descend to the bottom of the ravine after Fletchling as well.

Honchcrow quickly shook its head to regain its composure, "Crow!" it cried pissed as it descended into the ravine as well.

"Foakie!" Ash began as an idea formed in his head as they ran after Fletchling, "look at the ravine, it's a perfect place to use your jumping power with all the high and low places you can jump. Use that to get good position on Fletchiling."

"Fro!" nodded the Blue Frog Pokemon. But before Froakie could put Ash's plan in place a seriously pissed Honchcrow caught up to them.

"Honch-Crow!" cried the Big Boss Pokemon as its body became surrounded in a light blue aura. It then dove for the trio and slammed both its wings into Froakie and Pikachu, smashing them into the ground, and picking up dust in the air as a result.

"Pikachu! Froakie!" Ash looked back at his Pokemon as the dust cleared, _"alright, this means war"_.

"Bayleaf! Vine Whip now!" Ash called out as he released the Leaf Pokemon from its Pokeball.

"Bay" responded Bayleaf as it quickly took a serious demeanor. Two dark green vines shot out of Bayleaf's neck, grabbing the dark blue avian Pokemon causing it to cry in surprise,

"Now, send it into the rock face" directed Ash with a wave of his Arm.

Bayleaf nodded and swung Honchcrow into one of the walls in the ravine.

"Crow!" cried Honchcrow as it was painfully smashed into the wall of the ravine.

"Good job Bayleaf. Pikachu Froakie, are you two alright" Ash turned towards his other teammates who were able to get on their feet and confirmed that they were fine with a "Pika" and "Fro".

Ash gave a small nod, "right, come on Bayleaf, we can't lose Fletchling".

Ash began to fun after Fletchling, who had slowed down to see what had happened, once again with Pikachu and Froakie beginning to follow.

But before the two could begin to follow, Paul ran past them, with a Pokeball in hand,

_"Dumbass, I'll make you wish you hit the pavement back in Lumiose."_

"Weavile, stand by for battle" Paul realeased a weasel like Pokemon.

"Wea-vile!"

"Blizzard, now!" At Paul's command Weavile summoned a vicious icy storm headed for Ash and Bayleaf.

"Bayleaf! Run!" Ash saw the blizzard coming and tried to out run it, but the attack landed,

"Co-Cooold!"

"Ba-Baaay!"

And both of them became frozen in a huge block if ice.

Paul and Weavile ran past the block of ice, and then Pikachu and Froakie arrived soon after.

"Pikapi!"

"Froakie Fro!"

"Pikachu!" Ash mumbled through the ice, "Get us out of here! Iron Tail!"

Pikachu nodded and quickly broke the block of ice with an Iron Tail, freeing Ash and Bayleaf from the icy prison.

"Brrrrr, he's go-giong to pay fo-for this" Ash said as he trembled furiously from both anger and cold.

"Fro!" Froakie became reenergized and suddenly began to jump on the walls of the ravine.

Ash gave a small smile, while still trying to warm himself up "come on guys, let's follow Froakies lead, let's catch us a Fletchling!"

"Pika-pi"

"Bay-Bay!"

* * *

"Ice Beam, quickly" Paul ordered as he and Weavile ran after the red and gray robin Pokemon.

"Wea-vile" cried the the Sharp Claw Pokemon as it fired an Ice Beam at Flecthling.

"Fletch-ling!" Fletchling spun to avoid the attack and turned towards Weavile and fired a Razor Wind at Weavlie.

"Dodge, and useIce Shard" ordered the purple haired trainer.

Weavile leaped into the air, avoiding the razor wind, and fired a block of ice at Fletchling. The flying type had no chance to dodge due to Weaviles speed and was hit with the super effective attack, sending it to a freefall back down to earth.

Paul took one of his pokeballs into his left hand and pitched the red and white capsule towards Fletchling which bounced of it before it formed Fletchling into energy and capturing it.

"No!" Ash and company reached Paul in time to see him catch Fletchling with the Pokeball.

Ash gritted his teeth at the sight, _"No, it's one thing for me not to catch Fletchling, but the last person I want to cath Fletchling is him."_

Ash looked on helplessly as the Pokeball on the ground shook due to Fletchling's struggling. And when it seemed the Flying type was caught, the Pokeball suddenly broke up, and with a flash of light, Fletchling reappeared.

"Fletch-ling!" it cried is it swooped down towards the flat footed Weavile and slammed a steel hard wing into the ice type for major damage and causing it to tumble backwards.

_"Dammit, I thought I had it. And it also knows Steel Wing."_

Ash took a deep breathe in relief seeing how Fletchling still was not caught,

"Alright! Here's our chance, let's go!" he called out as he and his Pokemon began to run towards Fletchling.

"Not a chance" Paul stepped in their way. Then a flash of light appeared revealing Raichu.

"Rai!" smirked the beige rodent like Pokemon.

"Pika!" The sight of Raichu made Pikachu's cheeks spark with electricity.

Ash began to quick quickly as every second mattered if he wanted to catch Fletchling, "Froakie, keep going".

Paul turned to the direction of Froakie who at the moment was jumping on the walls of the ravine, "Raichu, Thunderbolt" he ordered/

"Bayleaf! Razor Leaf!" Before Raichu could launch the attack at Froakie, Bayleaf forced Raichu out of its spot with Razor Leaf and allowed Froakie to advance pass them.

"Weavile, go after Fletchling" Paul said evenly. Weavie obeyed and went off.

"It's two against one Paul, you can't win" Ash said mater-a-factly.

"Are you sure you're counting right dumbass" Paul responded with his poker face.

"What are you-" was all Ash could say before he was caught off by a cry from above.

_"Shoot, Honchcrow"_ the Fedora hat feathered Flying type landed with grace and power.

There was a long pause as neither Pokemon or trainer moved a muscle, then Paul broke the silence, "Raichu, get rid of that Pikachu."

"Rai!" cried the Mouse Pokemon as it advanced on Pikachu before slamming its right fist and sending Pikachu out of the Ravine and back into the woods. And Raichu followed soon after.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled. But Paul didn't give Ash time to worry about Pikachu.

"Night Slash" Honchcrows wings began to glow light purple as it charged Bayleaf.

Ash turned his attention back to what was in front of him. He desperetaley called out an attack,

"Razor Leaf!" Bayleaf fired razor sharp leaves at Honchcrow, but they were easily avoided and Bayleaf took the hit straight on.

The collision caused a small explosion and black smoke to appear, which Honchcrow quickly flew out of, "Crow!"

The Flying type looked to be in the clear, but Ash had other plans, "Bayleaf, vine whip!"

Out of the smoke caused from the previous attack, a pair of vines shot out and smashed the Big Boss Pokemon out of the air and into the ground.

Both Pokemon rose up slowly, both hurt after taking damage.

* * *

"Fro, Fro, Fro" Froakie continued chasing Fletchling, but Weavile was at his heels.

"Wea-vile" the red feathered ice type neared Froakie and fired an ice shard. But Froakie leapt out of the way and fired a water pulse to counter attack.

Weavile dodged the attack, but unknown to the dark type, Fletchling came swooping in from the other directions,

"Wea-vile!" it cried as it was hit with a peck attack.

Froakie saw this as an opening and jumped from the ravine wall and attacked with a pound.

Weavile recovered quickly though, and intercepted Froakie with a Metal Claw.

"Fro!"

"Vile!"

* * *

"Sky Attack" Paul commanded quickly.

Honchcrow became surrounded in a white aura before diving at Bayleaf.

"Bayleaf, jump!" Ash called out. Bayleaf obeyed as it used its vines to propel it of the ground and high into the air.

The Sky Attack missed its mark and left Honchcrow vulnerable,

"Follow up with Razor Leaf!" Ash ordered with a clenched fist.

"Bay-Leaf!" While in midair and with a swift motion with its neck, Bayleaf fired a barrage of sharp leaves at Honchrow, causing the flying type to cry out in pain.

Honchcrow stayed airborne though while Bayleaf landed back on solid ground.

Both Pokemon were on their last legs though as both were exauhsted. Both trainers knew this, and both went for their finishing move,

"Bayleaf!"

"Honchcrow!"

"End this with Head-butt!"

"Night Slash immediately!"

Honchcrow's wings began to glow a light purple, while Bayleaf charged with its head lowered.

Honcrow dove and became level with Bayleaf as it when in for the attack, and Bayleaf charged at full power.

"Bay!"

"Crow!"

Both Pokemon cried simultaneously as the made landed their respective attack. The collision resulted in an explosion, leaving the trainers in the dark for a second before the smoke cleared, revealing an unconscious Bayleaf and Honchcrow.

Ash ran up to Bayleaf, "are you okay Bayleaf".

Bayleaf raised its head and gave him a nod.

"You did great, take a long rest" Ash returned Bayleaf.

"Your accuracy was lacking, looks like we both know what you're working on later" Paul scolded Honchcrow as it returned it back to its Pokeball.

_"I need to get to Froakie" _Ash got up and quickly sprinted past Paul.

Paul though did not have the same urgency as he began to follow at a slower pace.

* * *

Froakie and Weavile were exchcaching attacks when Ash came up to them.

"Froakie!" Ash called out.

"Fro!" Cried the Pokemon happily, but that split second caused it to lose concentration.

Weavile came in on Froakie quickly with a knock off attack. Frokie tried to counter with a pound, but it was too late at that point. Froakie was sent flying towards the wall of the ravine, with its eyes tightly shut.

"Froakie! Pull yourself together, bounce of the wall."

Upon hearing his trainer, Froakie regained its compusre, and with its strong legs bounced of the ravine wall, back towards Weavile.

"Water Pulse!" Ash called out confidently.

Weavile's only reaction was a widening of its eyes as it was blasted on the spot by Water Pulse.

"Good job Froakie, now let's concentrate on Fletchling." Ash looked up and found said Pokemon perched and an elevated rock formation in middle of the ravine.

"Froakie! Go and get above it" Ash commanded.

"Froa!" Obeyed the Blue Frog Pokemon as it began to ascend the rock formation by jumping ledge to ledge, increasing its jump.

Fletchling reacted to the climbing Froakie by Diving and using peck. Froakie though followed throught its trainers command and simply avoided Fletchling, reaching the top of the rock formation.

"Use Water Pulse" Froakie followed Ash's direction and fired a Water Pulse at Fletchling from a better angle.

"Fletchling managed to barely dodge the attack dodge, but Ash would not give it time to rest,

"Slow down Fletchling and use Bubble!" Ash called out at full force.

Froakie leaped from his position on the rock formation and threw its frubbles at Fletchling.

"Fletch" cried Fletchling, who was now in a sticky situation.

"Fro!" Froakie fired a barrage of bubbles at Fletcling, gaining a direct hit, and causing the flying type to fall.

"Go, Pokeball!" Ash tossed the Pokeball at Fletchling with the hopes of catchiong it. But those hopes were soon dashed when he heard the all too familiar voice of Paul from behind him,

"Knock Off" Paul called out

Weavile quickly cut off the Pokeball and knocked it away from Fletchlling.

"Hey!" Ash said angrily as he turned towards Pau.

"Froakie, use Water Pulse!"

"Fro" cried Froakie in agreement as it fired a Water Pulse at Weavile.

"Knock Off" Weavile followed orders as it charged Froakie, eluding the Water Pulse in the process and smashing its claw onto Froakies head.

"Froakie!" Ash uttered in worry.

"Now, after that Fletchling, Ice Punch" commanded Paul.

Fletchling had recovered from Froakies offensive, but it was in no position to protect itself from Weaviles Ice Punch.

Ash saw this and began to go through his mind furiously and think of something, all of the sudden he found something on the ground.

"Wea-vile!" cried the ice type as it swung down on Fletchling. But before it could land a hit, a rock came flying in out of nowhere and hit it on the head, causing the attack too fail and allowing Fletchling to escape.

"What the Hell!? Where did that rock come from!?" An exasperated Paul quickly turned towards Ash.

"Yeah! Rock beats ice, good thing I remembered that type chart."

_"You've got to be kidding me."_

"Wea-vile!" hissed the weasel like Pokemon towards Ash.

"Oh hey Weavile" Ash began nervously, "no hard feelings right".

"Vile!" Weavile angrily charged Ash with its claws glowing white.

"Crap!"

"Froa-kie!" At the last moment, Froakie was able to Pound Weavile out of the way.

"Fro!"

"Wea-vile!"

"Get a grip and focus on the objective" Paul said sternly.

"Wea-vile?" It looked towards its trainer, and its words seemed to calm it down a bit. It then quickly turned its attention to Fletchling.

"Froakie! Bubble!" Froakie obeyed and and fired a Bubble at Fletchling.

"Ice Shard!" Weavile obliged and fired an Ice Beam at Fletchling as well.

Both attacks landed their mark and Fletchling was thoroughly defeated, primed for capture.

_"This is it" _Ash and Paul thought simultaneously.

They both flinged their Pokeballs at the same time, it would come down to who's Pokeball arrived first.

_"No way." _Much to Pauls dismay, Ash's Pokeball had much more juice than his own, and Ash's Pokeball reached Fletchling first.

After a moment of struggling, the Pokeball gave the signature "ping" completing the capture.

"Alright! We got Fletchling!" Ash held up the Pokeball triumphantly.

Paul just looked on before he began to make his way back to the main route.

"Come on Froakie, let's go back to the others to introduce Fletchling to everybody."

Ash began to walk back but he realized somebody was missing soon,

"Wait, where's Pikachu" Ash cupped his mouth, "Pikachu!"

On cue, Pikachu came flying out of the trees, "Pika-Piii!"

"PikaCHU!?" was all Ash could say before Pikachu crashed right onto his head, knocking both Ash and Pikachu out and making them see stars.

All Froakie could do was wrap his mind around what just happened and try to wake his trainer up.

And somewhere in the woods, Raichu is laughing its ass off.

* * *

"Come on out Fletchling" Ash said as he released his newly caught teammate.

After some serious backtracking, Ash and Paul made it back to the main route and found Clemont, May, and Bonnie waiting for them.

Ash kneeled down to Fletchlings level, "hey there Fletchling" Ash began with a gentle tone, "from on now where all going to be great friends, a family. What do you say," Ash then pumped his fist towards the sky, "do you want to part of it? Together we will become the strongest".

"Fletchling" nodded the Tiny Robin Pokemon in agrement.

Ash gave Fletchling a big and genuine smile, while the other Pokemon happily responded.

Bonnie kneeled down to Fletchling next, "And Fletchling, tell me when you get hungry next time, because stealing other Pokemon's food is bad" she said as if it were common knowledge.

"Fletchling" responded the small flying type ashamed.

_"And allow the neutering process to begin"_ thought Paul as he looked on a few feet away, _"poor Fletchling"_.

"It's okay, you're forgiven" Bonnie assured Fletchling.

"How about an Oran berry to celebrate our new friendship" Clemont handed out Oran berries for everyone.

"Now let's go on to Santalune city" Ash began to take a step before May interrupted him.

"Um, Ash it's already getting dark" May Pointed out.

"What!?" Ash looked up and sure enough the sun was setting, giving way for night.

"Oh Arceus, thank you" Ash, Froakie, Pikachu, and their new friend, Fletching all fell onto the ground exhausted.

"Whoah, are guys alright?" Clemont asked.

"Were fine, just a little tired" then Ash's stomach began to growl, "and hungry".

Paul remained quit, but he was tired as well, and it was getting let. He would have to stay around here for the night.

"Well, how about we set up camp, I make us a good dinner, and we turn in for the night" suggested Clemont.

"Alright!" Ash quickly got back up, "food!"

The group set up camp, except for Paul who definitely did not include himself as part of the group. He simply sat by himself under a tree reading a book and drinking tea.

"Mmmm, Clemont that smells great." Ash had practically begun drooling as the aroma of the food hit his nose.

Everybody sat down around a foldable table as Clemont served dinner, a delicious looking stew.

Ash was about to dig in, but May stopped him.

"Ash" May began, "how about Paul".

"Paul?" Ash looked over to where Paul was seated, "what about him".

"Aren't we going to invite him to eat with us. He is your brother. It would be rude not to invite him, isn't that right Clemont" May turned to Clemont for back up.

Clemont tensed up a bit at being put on the spot, "uh… sure, I mean of course, it would be rude not to invite him" Clemont said a tad bit unsure.

May turned back to Ash, only to find him already eating and ignoring anything she said, "Ash!"

"What?" Ash began between a spoonful, "he looks fine. "I'll invite him after one plate of food. It takes all my energy to deal with him; I can't do it on an empty stomach.

Ash was about to grab another spoonful of the stew, but instead of hitting the stew, his spoon hit table, "huh?"

Ash looked up to see May holding his plate of food away from him.

"Hey! Give my food back!"

"No, go and invite Paul _now_" May said sternly.

Ash clenched his teeth before sighing in defeat, "fine".

Ash walked away from the table and towards Paul, who was under a tree reading a small book, the same book he had been reading the whole time.

"Hey, Paul, I just wanted to ask you if you would like to have dinner with us?" Ash said indifferently.

Paul gave a simple "no".

Ash asked him if he was sure, but Paul affirmed he was fine,

"I have my own food, now leave me be."

"Alright then, Clemont's food is pretty good, but if that's how you want it." Ash returned to the table and snatched his plate back from May,

"There, he doesn't want to join us, no let's eat."

May looked towards Paul, something was weighing on her mind, but she didn't know what.

Soon enough, everyone, including the Pokemon, began eating.

"Mmmm! Clemont, this tastes great!" May was thouroughly enjoying Clemont's cooking.

"Isn't it awesome, my brother Clemont is an amazing chef, probably the best around" said Bonnie quite proud of her brother.

Clemont gave a sheepish grin, "Well, you know, cooking is a bit similar to inventing, so I guess I always had a knack for it".

"Must be true, he's definetly the best chef I've ever traveled traveled with" said May with a smile.

* * *

Somewhere in Pewter City.

"Ahhhh!" Brock let out a cry of pain as a he felt a searing pain go through his back, "Croagunk! Why would you do that!"

Brock turned around expecting to see Croagunk but said Pokemon was not there.

_"Wait, Croagunk is outside" _Brock looked out the window, and sure enough Croagunk was just sitting there, _"so, what was that pain?"_

Just then, Brock's younger brother, Forrest, appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, Brock are you okay?" Asked Forrest wondering what was the commotion.

"I'm fine, but it's strange, it felt like I got poisoned jabbed in the back, but it wasn't Croagunk" Brock then put his hand on his chin, "it feels like there's a disturbance".

"Now you're just talking crazy. You're probably just stressed from studying and working at the Pokemon Center all the time" Forrest began to leave, "take a break or something".

_"Great, now I won't be able to concentrate enough to study"_ Brock sat down to begin studying again, but this time studying would be taking a backseat.

_A few moments later_

"Officer Jenny, this time you are the one who has committed an injustice. You have stolen my heart, but if you really do believe in justice, there is one thing you could d-Ahhhh!"

Brock fell of his chair in pain, "okay, this time it was Croagunk".

Croagunk gave out a scratchy chuckle before walking outside to once again enjoy the beautiful day.

* * *

**There it is. Thank you for reading, peace! And remember to review.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, Martians and mermaids, I am your host the infamous Pika-Bones. I bring you chapter 9 of this "Somebody please given me a shorter name for this fanfic" story. I hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Good thing too, I would probably find a way to screw it up**

* * *

Ch.9

"Alright mom, I'm off" Serena was in the front yard of her mother's house in the small breezy town of Vaniville.

Serena has a love for fashion and clothing, so there was no doubt she would pick the perfect outfit for her new journey.

After seeing what had happened in Lumiouse, she had decided she would track down that boy. She was sure it was him, she was sure it was Ash. Who else has that messy raven hair with those deep auburn eyes and those same features…

Serena's mind began to wonder Ash she thought of Ash and when they met back at proffessor's Oak summer camp. It's not like she had only been thinking about Ash since she saw him on t.v. but he has been on her mind often.

She was brought back from her own thoughts when her mom responded,

"Alright Serena, I'll miss you. I know this will be a great experience for you" Grace looked at her daughter, knowing full well she was growing up. This was probably for the best. But Grace did have this sinking feeling about her daughter.

Grace wasn't blind, she could see her daughter didn't love Rhyhorn racing as she did herself. Maybe Rhyhorn racing was in her blood, but not in her heart. It was a bit disappointed that her daughter wouldn't follow in her footsteps, but she knew that as long her daughter found what would make her happy that would be enough for her.

"By the way" continued Grace, "this sudden urge to travel wouldn't have anything to do with that boy you saw on T.V, would it" Grace got up close to her daughters face with a knowing glint in her eye.

"Wh-what" a small blush appeared on Serena's face and she quickly tried to shake it off, "o-of course not".

Grace stepped back from her daughter. _"Yeah right" _she thought to herself, _"well I guess it can't be helped._

"So" Grace began trying to change the subject, "do you know what Pokemon you're getting."

"Yeah, but it's a secret" Serena said regaining her composure.

"I see, well, be careful out there. Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes mom. I'll call you soon alright" Serena began to run out of the front yard and towards her new destination.

"Don't forget to practice your Rhyhorn racing!" called out Grace to her daughter.

"Will do" responded Serena as she ran out of Grace's sight.

_"Sure you will."_

Grace petted Rhyhorn, "you'll miss her too won't you".

"Rhy" nodded the the spikes Pokemon.

"Fletch" cried Grace's Flletchling as it perched itself onto Grace's shoulder.

"And I know you will miss her too. Now there will be no one to peck awake in the morning" Garce said as she looked towards the flying type.

"Fletch" it cried sadly.

Grace gave a small smile as she just admired the beautiful skies.

* * *

Ash and company had woken up after a night of camping. After the whole Ash vs. Paul vs. Froakie vs. Pikachu vs. Weavile vs. Raichu vs. Bayleaf vs. Honchcrow vs, Fletchling incedent, they were a bit behind where they thought they would be at this point.

But certainly, the future Pokemon master Ash Ketchum would not allow this to go by unnoticed. Certainly he will do everything in his power to make up ground and make it to the Santalune city gym as planned and earn his first gym badge in the Kalos region. And certainty, no obstacle will stop him achieving his first step. Well…

"Ash get up, it's late already" May yelled from outside of Ash's tent. There was no response, except for the low sound of snoring.

"I still can't believe he was sleep eating" Clemont said while he and Bonnie were finishing packing up while May was trying to wake up Ash, and failing miserably.

Apparently Ash had reached such a perfect state of eating and sleeping that he seems to have learned how to do it simultaneously. The problem was that after eating he went straight back to his tent.

Everybody was dumbfounded when it had happened, and breakfast became awkard as of result. Even Pikachu was dumbfounded.

"It is very interesting. I've never seen something like it myself" Clemont said as he put on his high tech backpack.

"More like creepy" May replied, "and it's probably just a bunch of BS."

"What happened yesterday must have really worn him out" Clemont tried to defend Ash.

"Well apparently that doesn't count as an excuse for Paul."

Clemont turned and looked at the area were Paul slept last night in his sleeping bag, "He was gone even before we woke up."

"You hear that Ash, Paul's probably already at the gym. Get up!"

There was no response.

"Fine then, we tried to reason with you. Pikachu, wake up Ash for us please" May said with a mischievous grin.

"Pika" smiled the Electric Mouse Pokemon michesouvly.

Pikachu entered the tent quietly, weaving around the blankets, and finding Ash. Pikachu made contact with the tip of his tail and Ash's nose.

"Ah!" Ash yelled in pain as Pikachu recharged the raven haired trainer,

"That should do it" said May.

Bonnie and Clemont sweat dropped. They were right; traveling with Ash was going to be something else.

* * *

Paul was walking on a dirt road, in a small clearing that led to a nearby Pokemon Center. He was planning on healing his Pokemon and taking off once again to santalune city. By his estimation he would be able to make it there by afternoon. Hopefully enough time for his gym battle.

Unfortunately he hadn't found any Pokemon he was interested in other than the Fletchling Ash caught yesterday. It looked like he would have to face the Santalune gym leader with his other he had caught earlier in other regions. It wasn't really ideal. Since he wanted to test the power of some newer Pokemon and have them gain experience, but it wouldn't be a major issue, he'll just do what he has to do.

The Pokemon Center was in sight but before he could make it, he heard a low rumbling noise come his way. Then a rusty jeep appeared on the road, coming right towards him. The driver was a large stubby man with a big nose. There was a gray Pokemon in the seat next to him that was stubby like the man with two large, shovel like ears, and two buck teeth.

Paul quickly jumped out of the way, towards the side of the road, not wanting to become road kill.

_"Son of a bitch."_

The jeep quickly speed past him. He then heard a siren coming. It was Officer Jenny in her motorcycle with a Manetric in a side car.

"Stop the car!" Demanded Officer Jenny.

"Like I'm going to listen to you! Gimme a break Jenny" the stubby man then turned to the stubby rabbit like Pokemon, "Diggersby use mud shot".

Diggerdby complied as it turned towards Office Jenny.

"Diggers-By!" Cried the Pokemon as it fired a Mud Shot at Officer Jenny, causing her to momentarily lose control of her mortycycle.

"Haha, good job Diggersby."

"Ugh, get back over here!" Office Jenny became irate as she continued to pursue the jeep.

The driver of the jeep unknowingly hit a large bump on the road, causing a cage in the back to fly off, and land on the side of the road.

"No! This can't be, my merchandise!" Yelled the stubby man as he continued to flee from Officer Jenny. They both sped put of site and into the forest.

Paul had seen the entire thing, and he was intrigued about the cage that had fallen off the jeep.

He neared the cage, and as he came closer he could see something crawling out.

"Hm?" Paul let out as he was able to see what was in the cage.

In front of Paul was a small, black, insectoid like Pokemon. It had a large head that takes up most of its body, and two large khaki colored eyes with black square pupils.

Paul looked at the Pokemon for a second before giving a random sigh and pulling out his pokedex.

_"Scatterbug, the Scatterdust Pokemon. The black powder that covers its body helps regulate its body tempature. When under attack from other Pokmeon, it spews a poisonous black powder in self-defense. The Black powder paralysis on contact."_

_ "Seems useless to me." _

Immediately after the Pokedex finished reciting the information, Scatterbug released some of the black power with a small squeal.

"Whoa, calm down there buddy" Paul began uninterested, "I'm not going to hurt you".

The Scatter bug then proceeded to fall over in what seemed to be in exhaustion.

Seeing Scaterbug fall over, Paul came up to it and picked it up in his hands,

_"Well, I guess I can't just leave it here to become road kill."_

And now with Scatterbug in hand, Paul continued towards the Pokemon Center.

* * *

"Hey Pikachu, I thought we were past the whole shocking me part of our friendship" Ash said grumpily.

"Pika-Pika" responded the Electric Mouse Pokemon only somewhat apologetically.

After being woken up by Pikachu, Ash and company had begun heading towards Santalune City.

"It's your own fault. It was getting late, you were going sleep through the whole day" May began, but then she saw Ash grimace a little bit, and her tone softened, "so how's your back?"

"I'm fine it's getting better. I barely feel it at all" Ash said with a grin.

_"Maybe I was wrong. He has been through a lot lately. Maybe we should have let him rest more."_ May thought to herself worried about Ash.

Ash noticed this and reaffirmed that he was okay, "don't worry, I really do feel better. You guys are right; I don't have time to waste".

To prove this Ash picked up the pace, but before they could get any further, a low grumbling noise could be heard up ahead.

"Hey, do you guys hear that?" Ash began to look around trying to locate the source of the sound.

"I hear it too. What do you think it is?" Everybody began stopped walking as they searched for the source of the sound.

Then, out of nowhere, an old jeep steered straight towards them.

"Watch out!" Ash yelled as they all jumped out of the way of the speeding jeep.

The gang turned towards the speeding jeep in shock.

"What is that guy's problem!" May said enraged, "he was going to run us over".

"Out of the way!" The gang heard a feminine voice from behind them to find a motorcycle speeding towards them this time. The driver was none other than Officer Jenny.

The gang was more than happy to comply as they moved out of the way as Jenny sped past them.

"If Officer Jenny after that guy" began Clemont from the seat of his pants "then he might be a wanted criminal."

"Well, we can't just stand here. Let's see if we can help." Ash then darted after the two vehicles as the others followed.

It didn't take long though till they lost them and Clemont couldn't run anymore, for which he was scolded by Bonnie.

Ash looked upset about not being able to help. May noticed this so she came up to him, "don't worry Ash, I'm sure Officer Jenny has everything under control. She is the best at what she does, or is it they?" May said that last part to no one in particular with her right index finger on her chin,

"Yeah, we should trust her, though I can't shake off the fact I have a bad feeling about this."

* * *

"Thank you for healing my Pokemon" Paul said politely as Nurse Joy handed him back his Pokeballs.

"You're very welcome, and Scatterbug is healthy as well. Thank you for bringing it here to recover" Nurse Joy said with a smile.

Paul only nodded in response.

"By the way, this Scatterbug is not from around here. You can tell because Scatterbug from different areas have key differences, like their final evolutions." Nurse Joy directed Paul to a screen above her which showed a number a Villvion, each with a different color pattern on their wings.

_"Vivillon"_

"I would be very interested to know where you found this Scatterbug" Nurse Joy asked.

Paul began to answer, but he was quickly cut-off,

"I've got you" a feminine but assertive voice cut off Paul causing him to turn. His arm was quickly lassoed by a long and strong piece of rope,

"Hey!" Was all Paul could say when he was pulled from his current spot and towards Officer Jenny.

"Don't move, or you'll be in a lot more trouble than you're already in" Officer Jenny said sternly. Then a growling Manetric with bared fangs appeared.

"What the hell are you talking about. You must be out of your mind" responded Paul furiously.

"Believe me, I know who you are. If you have a stolen Scatterbug you must work with Dolan the Pokemon smuggler."

"And believe me, you have no idea who I am" Paul took his free hand and grabbed the rope tightly. He began to pull Officer Jenny in.

She was struggling, but a furious Paul was winning this tug-of-war.

As Paul pulled, Manetric advanced toward him, growling with bared teeth.

"Don't growl at me, I'll kick you."

Paul's eyes and tone made Manetric hesitate and step back for a moment before once again advancing once again, but not as aggressively as before.

"Threatning an officer? Your just digging yourself a bigger hole" Jenny said as she struggled to keep her ground.

"I didn't threatened an officer, I threatened your stupid dog" Paul spat out.

Paul managed to pull Office Jenny in, and they were only a few inches apart, "Don't you dare call me a Pokemon smuggler" uttered a seething Paul.

"I call it like I see it" responded an increasingly irate Office Jenny.

Just then, before things escalate even more, Ash and company walked into the Pokemon Center. They quickly saw what was happening since it had become the center of attention in the Pokemon Center. Ash quickly ran up to the two with the others in tow.

"Paul what's going on!?" Ash asked frantically.

All Ash got in response was a grunt as the tug of war continued.

Officer Jenny was the one to give Ash a response,

"I'm in the process of apprehending this criminal for Pokemon Smuggling."

_"Pokemon Smuggling?"_ Ash, Clemont, May, and Bonnie all shared the same thought.

"And failing miserably" Paul began as he continued to struggle with Offiice Jenny, "I saw chasing that other guy on the road looks like you couldn't catch him either. Pathetic."

Those words seem to hit the spot, because as Ash turned to look at Officer Jenny, he swore he could see fire coming out of her,

_"Oh shit! She's going to tear him apart."_

Ash new he had to do something, so he began as he bowed his head towards Office Jenny.

"Officer Jenny, I know Paul may be a lot of things, and he may have said some things he regrets, but please understand he is not a Pokemon smuggler, he would never do such a thing. He's my brother, please believe me."

Ash's words seemed to had an effect as Officer Jenny's expression soften, though she still looked angry, and she was still trying to reel in Paul.

Ash then turned his attention to Paul,

"Paul, calm down, get a grip! This isn't you! Focus!" Ash called out strongly.

Ash's words seemed to have the intended as Paul remembered something he said just yesterday.

* * *

Flashback

"Get a grip and focus on the objective" Paul said sternly.

"Wea-vile?" It looked towards its trainer, and its words seemed to calm it down a bit. It then quickly turned its attention to Fletchling.

* * *

Paul let go of the rope causing Office Jenny to lose her balance.

Both weren't in their best of moods, but compared to earlier, things were calmer.

"Listen" Paul began, "I found Scatterbug on the side of the road. I saw a cage fall of the guys' truck you were following, and Scatterbug was inside".

Officer Jenny released the rope and her demeaner quickly changed,

"Oh no, I did it again. I'm always jumping to conclusions, and then I mess up. I'm sorry." Jenny then covered her eyes with her hat embarrassed.

Paul only glanced for a second before walking towards a table and sitting and sitting down. He silently looked at his bandaged hands. He seemed out of it, not wanting to look away from his hands.

* * *

"Dolan the Pokemon smuggler?" Ash asked, trying to learn more about the situation.

After everything settled, everybody gathered around one of the tables, including Office Jenny and Paul, thought they kept their distance, for obvious reasons. Scatterbug was on the table as well.

"Yes, Dolan is a greedy man who captures Scatterbug in multitudes to sell them as Vivillon on the black market. Since Vivillon have different patterns which are rare depending on the area, they tend to garner a high price" Officer Jenny explained to the group.

"That's horrible, all those Scatterbug being captured and sold like nothing more than a piece of furniture" May said, visibly disgusted.

"He stinks" Bonnie said upset as well

Clemont second that and he stood up, all rilled up.

"How low can you get. What an awful thing to do" Ash said to no one in particular, "we need to do something".

Jenny gave all of them a nod "I wish I could find his hideout, but he keeps shaking me off" then Jenny noticed Scatterbug running around in circles on the table, "huh? Scatterbug is becoming restless".

The group all turned towards Scatterbug while Paul looked from afar.

Scatterbug then abruptly stopped and then began to glow white before changing shape.

"Spewpa" cried the newly evolved Pokemon.

Everybody let out a small gasp at the unexpected evolution.

"Cool, Scatterbug evolved." Ash then pulled out his Pokedex.

_"Spewpa, the Scatterdust Pokémon. When Spewpa is attacked, it scares its enemies away by stiffening and spreading its fur like wings."_

"That's so cool!" Ash can you teach me about evolution.

"I can do that" Ash pointed to himself, "You see, a Pokemon begins glowing super bright! Then it changes form, and that's when everybody goes wow! That's all there really is to it."

"Are you stupid or something" Paul entered the conversation, "don't poison the mind of the young one with your nonsense."

"You've got a problem! Then you explain it" Ash shot back.

"Very well then." Paul turned to Bonnie, "Pokemon evolution happens when a Pokemon beats the living daylight out of enough Pokemon and then it becomes stronger".

"Okay, I don't get it at all" stated Bonnie confused.

"I guess that's my cue to take over" Clemont said as his glasses shined white.

"Is there a problem with my explanation, dork?"

Clemont flinched before continuing, "no its fine, just allow me to elaborate. There are some Pokemon that change their shape after certain criteria are met. And this is called evolution. For example, Scatterbug evolves into Spewpa, and Spewpa evolves into Villvion. There are several way to make Pokemon evolve, but the most common way is through experience, like Spewpa when they reach a certain level and evolve into Villvion. An alternative method is using an evolutionary stone. For example, Pikachu can use a Thunderstone to evolve into Raichu."

"Yeah that, Clemont was saying the same thing I said in a different way" Ash said.

"Yeah think" Bonnie replied giving Ash a funny gaze.

"Impressive eh" began Clemont before he cut himself off when he saw something sparkle on Spewpa.

"Whats this" Clemont grabbed a magnifying glass out of nowhere and inspected whatever was on Spewpa's fur.

"Looks like a chip that is used for transmitting signals."

"But why would something like that be on Spewpa?" May asked to no one in particular.

"I know, Dolan must have placed it there, that way he could track Spewpa" Officer Jenny quickly deduced.

"Spew-pa" the Scatterdust Pokemon approached Ash.

"Huh? What's wrong Spewpa" Ash asked concerned.

"Spew-pa"

"It must be worried about its friends since Dolan still has them at the moment."

"Don't worry Spewpa" Ash began, trying to reassure the Pokemon, "We'll get your friends back, just you see".

With that Spewpa jumped onto his other shoulder opposite of Pikachu

"Why don't you just use Spewpa as bait, and use the tracking device to find his hideout" Paul came closer to the group, still avoiding and unnecessary eye contact, "aren't you supposeto be good at things like this."

"That's a great plan" Jenny began slowly, "you think we can pull it off."

"Well, I guess that's my cue." Clemont quickly reached his bag.

"The future is now, with science! Clemontic gear on. I happen to have the perfect invention for a situation like this" Clemont held up his invention for all to marvel at, "I like to call it the omnidirectional super sensitive tracking dish."

Ash, May, and Jenny all gasped in amazement while Paul looked bored as always, and all Bonnie could do was sigh, "the name is better this time."

"With this we can track Spewpa's exact location. Power on" the device began functioning, showing the chip's location with a red dot on a grid.

"Awesome, science is so amazing." Ash said with glimmering eyes.

"Pika!"

"Spewpa!"

Bonnie then came up running to her brother, "But Dolan dropped Scatterbug remember, and it evolved into Spewpa".

"Don't worry" began Office Jenny, "I'm sure when Dolan see's Spewpa with the chip it won't take him long to figure it out".

"But I don't feel right about this. Putting Spewpa back in danger and in the hands of Dolan is the last thing we should do."

Spewpa seemed to sense the worry amongst the group and quickly acted. It got off Ash's shoulder and began to call out, "Spewpa, Spewpa"

"Looks like Spewpa is up for it" Ash noticed the fire in Spewpa as well as its desire to help its friends.

Paul noticed this too as he gazed towards Spewpa for a moment, before he began to talk again, "then, what are we waiting for. I don't appreciate being nearly run over, this will be my chance to crush Dolan".

Ash thought it was strange Paul was willing to help, and for some reason he felt that crushing Dolan was not Paul's main objective.

* * *

Ash and company hid behind a few bushes on the side of the dirt road where Paul found Spewpa. They laid in wait for Dolan to return for Spewpa. Nobody dared to move a muscle.

"If Dolan doesn't come to take Spewpa back, this whole plan is a bust" explained Clemont.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he will come back for Spewpa, Dolan is a very greedy man" replied Officer Jenny who was hiding behind a tree, as she waited on her motorcycle with Manetric in the side car.

On cue, they could hear the all too familiar sound of Dolan's jeep rumbling down the road. Dolan pulled over to the side of the road. He then got off and neared the cage where Spewpa was in.

"There it is, and not a scratch." Dolan picked up the cage and looked inside.

"Spew-pa" cried the Scatterdust Pokemon.

"So you evoleved into a Spewpa. Good, now you might evolve into a highly profitable Villvion, hahaha." Dolan placed the cage in the back of his jeep and drove off.

"Alright let's go, Clemont is your device ready?" Officer Jenny turned to the young inventor.

"We are on, let's do this."

* * *

Clemont led the way with his invention while everybody followed.

"He's nearby, just a little more-"

Before Clemont could finish his sentence, his invention blew up in his face, causing his hair to become unruly.

"Well, at least this time it worked for a while" commented Bonnie as his brother took shook off the Ash.

"I'm sorry Officer Jenny, and we were so close." Clemont bowed his head apologetically.

"It's okay Clemont" Officer Jenny began noticeably disappointed, "I'll continue looking, at least now I know the general area for his hideout. Thank you very much for your help.

"No problem Officer" was all Clemont said as she disappeared into the forest.

"Just great, my invention failed again." Clemont hanged his head down disheartened.

He then felt a hand on his shoulder; he quickly turned his head to find Ash,

"What are you talking about Clemont. You did great! Officer Jenny is right; with that invention of yours we now know where Dolan is in general" Ash then pumped his fist, "just leave the rest to us."

Clemont smiled again, "thank you, now let's find Spewpa and the Scatterbug."

"Right, go Fletchling we need you."

"Fletch-Fletchling" Fletchling appeared in a flah of light an sored into the air.

"We need you to look for Dolan's jeep, and his hideout. If you find it come back quickly."

"Fletch." the Tiny Robin Pokemon nodded. It then went off.

"Let's keep looking too." All five of them quickly ran with a new sense of urgency.

* * *

"Fletch-ling" cried the Tiny Robin Pokemon as it flew towards a small mountain in the middle of the forest.

On the mountain top Fletchling found Dolan's jeep and his hideout.

The small flying type, quickly flew back to notify Ash of the hideout's location.

* * *

"Where can that creep be" Ash muttered to himself.

"Fletch-Fletchling." A familiar cry could be heard overhead. And sure enough it was Fletchling.

"Fletchling! Did you find the hideout?"

"Fletch!" The flying type nodded.

"Lead the way then."

Fletchling complied and began to fly back to the small mountain with everybody else in tow.

* * *

Ash and company hid near the trees neared as they advance towards Dolan's hideout which was on a small mountain top.

"This must be it" Ash said to no one in particular, and in a hushed tone, like everybody else.

"Look, it's Spewpa." May pointed towards the cage that was still in the back of the jeep.

"Looks like Dolan got careless" commented Ash, as silently moved towards the Jeep.

"Hey Spewpa, didn't we tell you we would find you."

"Pika-Pi" greeted Pikachu

"Spewpa" cried the bug type happily.

Ash opened the cage to let Spewpa out. Then both of them made back to the others.

"Alright now that Spewpa is safe let's go free the others." Ash began to head towards the hideout.

"Hold on stupid."

Ash felt a hand hold his shoulder and pull him back.

"If you want to save the other Pokemon you need a plan. Here, I'll take over." Paul pulled Ash back to the others.

"Hey."

But before Ash could start complaining, Paul released Weavile.

"Wea-vile"

"Go and see if the coast is clear in the building" Paul directed.

Weavile complied and it acrobatically reached the top of the Dolan's hideout. Weavile peered inside and found all the captive Scatterbug, but no Dolan.

Wevile returned to Paul.

"Wea-vile" nodded the ice type.

"Good, the coast is clear" Paul said to no one in particular.

Paul, Weavile, and Spewpa advanced, while the rest began to walk when they were all snared up in a net.

"Hey! What is this" yelled Ash, while he and everybody else in the net struggled.

Paul turned to see the commotion, but he then heard a heavy step in front of him which caused him to look back.

"Hahaha, look what we got here. Hey kid, if you would be so kind as to give me my pretty Spewpa back?" It was Dolan.

Paul didn't respond, he just looked straight ahead.

"Silent type huh, very well, maybe I'll have begging for mercy. Go Diggersby!"

In a flash of light, Diggersby appeared.

"Get out of the way if you don't want to get splattered" Paul told Spewpa.

"Spewpa?"

"Out of the way!"

This time Spewpa reacted as it flinch and ran behind Paul.

"Diggersby! Mudshot" Dolan ordered.

Diggersby fired a series of mud balls at Weavile.

Weavile immediately dodged the mudballs as it advance on Diggersby.

"Ice Punch" ordered Paul.

Weavile's claw became surrounded by an icy aura.

"Dig Diggersby"

Weavile swung aat Diggersby, but missed the digging Digersby,

"Now, Hammer Arm!" Called out Dolan.

Diggersby reappeared on the surface with its ears glowing white and ready to strike.

"Evade" called out Paul.

Weavile leapt into the air as Diggersby struck down, evading the attack.

"Ice Shard"

Weavile landed back in front of Paul and fired a block of ice at Diggersby.

Diggersby though covered itself with its huge ears, minimizing the damage it had taken.

_"Those ears are as annoying as Bunnelbys' ears"_ Paul thought to himself.

"Maybe I should take your Pokemon as well and sell them to the highest bidder. Yes, that would pay for the trouble you kids have cost me" Dolan said arrogantly as he imagined the possible money he could make.

Paul became fed up and he said something he thought he would ever say, "over my dead body".

This surprised everybody, including the Pokemon and including Paul.

"Be careful what you wish for buy. Diggersby, Hammer Arm at full power."

Diggersby charged with glowing white ears.

For the first time he could remember, Paul felt uncertain on the battlefield,

"Wait for my command" he called out trying to regain his composure.

Diggersby neared dangerously closer, but Paul did not give a command.

Then out of nowhere Spewpa came charging into the picture, intercepting Bunnelby with a tackle, sending the Digging Pokemon back to its trainer side.

"What!?" Was all Dolan could say.

"I told you to stay out of the way!" Paul began to yell, but then he had an epiphany.

"This personal for you, I understand now. Very well then, this is your fight. Go!"

Diggersby, show this Spewpa who it's messing with, Doubleslap."

Diggersbys' ears glowed an orange tint and it charged Spewpa.

Then a green barrier surrounded Spewpa, negating any damage from Doubleslap.

Spewpa then countered with stringshot. It attatched itself to Diggersby via its strinshot and began swinging around it, tying up the buck tooth Pokemon.

"What are you doing!" Shouted Dolan angrily, "break out of there."

Diggersby responded by breaking out of the Stringshot prison. Diggersby then began to pound its chest with its ears.

"Alright, now time to finish this."

Spewpa then began to run around in circles,

"Wait, does that mean…" began Paul.

"Of course, when Spewpa becomes restless, it mean it's going to evolve!" Clemont finished for Paul.

On cue, Spewpa began to glow bright whitew and it began to change form,

"Vivillon" cried the newly evolved Pokemon.

"Wow! It looks beautiful." Began Bonnie.

"It sure does" May said amazed.

Clemont recognized the pattern "If I'm not mistaken, that pattern is called the elegant pattern."

"That's great, Vivillon's beauty is what makes it so valuable. That's why Spewpa and Scatterbug are such great money makers."

Paul clenched his fist, "I'm going to kick your ass".

"How dare you talk to me like that. Diggersby, get rid of him with Mudshot!"

Diggersby fired the attack, but it never reached Paul. Vivillon, flew infront of Paul and covered him with safeguard.

Vivillon then proceeded to use Stunspore, paralyzing Diggersby and rendering it unable to battle.

"Diggersby, no!" Shouted Dolan, "Fine then, I'll just catch Vivillon myself."

"Hold it Dolan, you're under arrest" From behind Dolan Officer Jenny appeared as she lassoed Dolan, "sorry I'm late guys."

"If you think I'm going to do anything you say, you've got another thing coming" shouted Dolan.

"Stop or prepare for an electroball." Manetric began to spark threating to attack.

Dolan didn't stop fighting, and that is when Villvion came overhead and began to use its scale to subdue Dolan.

"Ah, you see, Villvions scales have the ability that causes an opponent's fighting spirit to vanish.

"And that's all he wrote for you Dolan. And now to free the Pokemon."

* * *

"I am sorry about my behavior earlier Officer Jenny" Paul said surprisingly as the sun set.

"Uh, that's fine, it is my fault anyway for not acting professionally."

"My behavior was unacceptable and I apologize for the untrue things I said. So can we say goodbye on good terms."

"Sure."

Paul gave a small nod.

"Well, that's all of them. You guys are free to go" Ash told the group of Spewpa they had freed.

Vivillon greeted her fellow Spewpa, but that would change when the Spewpa began to evolve simultaneously onto Vivillon.

Everybody who was not named Paul gasped in astonishment as the saw a multitude of differently pattenerd Villvion fill the sky.

The group began to fly freely in the skies to their next destination.

Vivillon stayed behind to say goodbye to its new friends.

"See you around Vivillon." Ash waved goodbye.

"Take care" May waved goodbye.

"We'll miss you" Bonnie waved goodbye.

"Stay out of trouble" Clemont waved.

"Vivi-llon" cried the Scale Pokemon as it ascended to join the other Vivillon.

_"And this is what happens when I get emotional. I hate it. I can't believe a said that" _Paul was looking down as his hair covered his eyes, _"well no point in dwelling on it now. I have one more thing to do."_

"Iron Tail!"

Everybody turned to Paul as he called that out.

Raichu jumped from the top of the building and slammed an Iron Tail into Vivillon.

"Vivillon!" Everybody yelled in unison.

"Paul! What are you doing".

Paul ignored Ash and continued,

"Thunderbolt"

Raichu quickly blasted Vivillon out of the air.

"Don't let it get up" Paul called out relentlessly.

Raichu slammed an Iron Tail into the already fallen Vivillon.

Paul then proceeded to throw his Pokeball and capture Vivillon effortlessly.

Paul walked up to the Pokeball and pocketed it. He then began to walk past everybody, all who were stunned.

Ash gritted his teeth, but then he remembered what Paul said earlier,

_"Over my dead body."_

_ "I guess it could be worse."_

* * *

**There it is guys. Hope you enjoyed.**

** Also I wanted to tell you about Advanceshipping week if you haven't heard it before. It starts on November 15 to November 22. So if you are in an Advacneshipping mood, participate by doing anything really to celebrate advanceshipping. PM me for mor info if you are interested.**


	10. A Battle of Sky Beauties

**Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, I am your host, Pika-Bones, and I bring ch.10 of this fanfic thing. It's been a while since I've updated I think. Was it a week or 2 weeks? I forget. Anyway, I was busy working on a couple of one-shots for advanceshipping week, so if you are interested, you can read those. Of course you don't have to if you're not interested. I wouldn't exactly say they are romantic stories, but feel free to read them if you so desire, though I do apologize if you consider them to be not good ****（￣～￣****;****）****If you are going to read them, I suggest you read the day 2 theme story, since I feel I did a better job on that one.**

**Also ORAS is out, so yay! To be honest, if I had a 3DS I'd probably not be writing this and I wouldn't touch this fanfiction this week, especially since R/S/E are my favorite games of all time. I hope you are all enjoying the game, and if you're like me, I hope you get the game soon.**

** Alright, I've rambled enough, so enough with that, let's get on with this news chapter.**

** Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape, or form.**

* * *

Ch.10: A Battle of Kalos Sky Beauties!

It was early morning, around 5o'clock and our heroes were nice and comfortable in bed.

They had gotten a room in the Pokemon Center the night before after saving the Vivillon. The room had 2 bunk beds with Ash and Bonnie in the bottom bunks, and May and Clemont in the top bunks.

A low noise could be heard in the room coming from Ash, not loud enough to wake anybody up, on the contrary it was kind of… soothing,

"ZZZ…I want to be…ZZZ…The very best…ZZZ…That no one ever was…ZZZ."

"Pika-Pi."

In the room next door though, a certain purple haired trainer was getting prepared for the day ahead, and his first gym battle in Kalos.

Paul exited his room with his bag and made his way downstairs. He went to the kitchen where he grabbed a quick bite and began to prepare his tea.

While he waited for the water to boil in the kettle, his mind began to focus on something else,

_"Let's see, the Santalune Gym leader is a bug type leader. That means that Vivillon does have an advantage over with its flying typing. So this should be a good chance to get some good battling experience."_

The Kettle began to whistle, snapping Paul's from his thoughts. He set his tea in a plane white cup and added the hot water. After a few moments, he began to sip his tea.

_"But Vivillon doesn't have that much battling experience, and there's no way I can train enough today with Vivillon to make up for that" _Paul thought as he drank his tea. He then began to walk towards the Pokémon Center exit, _"But I'll make sure I get that gym badge no matter what. Might as well get Vivillon warmed up for the gym battle and get everything ready."_

By the time Paul exited the Pokémon Center; sunlight began to sneak over the horizon and began to chase away the darkness. It looked like it would be a cloudy morning, and unless the clouds decided to part, a cloudy day. Paul walked exited the Pokémon Center and moved a good distance away from the Pokémon Center, and found a good spot in the plains.

He then brought out the Elegant Pattern Vivillon, in all its beauty.

"Vi-vi-llon" cried the Pokémon as it floated in midair.

"Morning" Paul said simply.

Paul wasn't exactly ecstatic about catching Vivillon. Vivillon wasn't really the kind of Pokémon for him to catch. Maybe he was impressed by Vivillon's showing the other day, but even then, Vivillon didn't show the kind of power he usually looked for. What he saw in Vivillon was different, something he himself couldn't measure, and it annoyed him to no end.

` A sudden look of frustration passed through his countenance before he tossed a second Pokeball.

Honchcrow appeared in a sudden flash of light.

"You're going to have your first battle today. And you are definitely not where you need to be. No matter, we can work on that later. For now, show me the true extent of your power" Paul then directed Honchcrow to move up, "You have one job. Survive."

* * *

_"Huh"_ May looked around but saw nothing, just endless white, _"Where am I?"_

Confused, May began to walk aimlessly, _"What's happening, am I dreaming?"_

"You could say that" a voice suddenly echoed through the endlessness, causing May to jump.

"Who said that!?" May demanded.

"Geez, don't be such a little scared girl." May suddenly felt something tap her shoulder and she quickly turned around.

To her surprise she was met with… herself. It was like she was looking in a mirror. Somebody that looked exactly was in front of her, with a huge grin.

"W-who are you?" May managed.

"Who, me?" replied the 'other May',

"Hm?" She began, "You could call me a lot of things. You're alter ego, your other soul. You know there are a lot of cultures who have different ideas, concepts, words about these things and they just crisscross and just all becomes a giant mush." The other May emphasized this by making a crushing motion with both of her hands.

"But all you need to know is that I'm you. I'm just the prettier and more smarter one." The other May then put one hand behind her head, and the other on her hip.

May stared blankly, "You mean smarter."

"What?"

"It's not 'more smarter', it's just smarter" May explained.

The other May then dropped her arms to her side angrily, "Who asked you!" She then shook her head, "That's not the point. What you _really_ need to know is that, unlike you, I can do things that you don't have the guts to do."

"What are talking abo-" May was quickly cut off by an index finger.

"Didn't I tell you that I'm you?"

May looked on confused.

"Ash…" The other May said slowly and with a knowing glint in her eye.

A tint of red suddenly appeared on May's cheeks, "W-what are you say-"

May was cut off once again when the other May put an arm around her and brought her in close, "Like I said, I'm you, so this will be a lot easier if we don't lie to each other, I know everything about you." She then pulled May away.

"You remember when you were about to confess to Ash on the boat on the way to Kalos."

May nodded, not denying anything now.

"Well tell me, did it feel like you were watching from a 3rd point of view? Like you weren't in control".

"Y-yeah, I mean maybe, but what does that have to do with anything."

May then saw her point at herself with a big grin.

"Wait, was that you?" May asked in disbelief.

The other May nodded, her grin not leaving her face.

"That can't be right. This is all a dream" said May as she turned around,

"This might be a dream, but what happened on that boat was real. You would never do that, so I took the controls."

May then turned back around, "How dare you do that!" May then lunged for the other May, but the other May easily avoided her and dropped her to the ground.

"Ugh" May mumbled.

The other May the lowered herself down next to May, "Don't get so dramatic. It was for a few seconds. And it's very rare for something like that to happen. Almost never happens. So you must have you really wanted it to happen, I was just there to close the deal."

There was no way May could deny that, and now she was just starting to feel really low.

"But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." She offered May a hand that May decided to take, "You need to tell Ash how you feel?"

"No, I can't do that." May looked down towards her hands.

"You have to. If you don't do it soon, you'll regret it. Next thing you know, a random loser will come blowing in from nowhere and snatch him away."

"No, not now, I have to wait for a better time. I can't right now" May replied silently.

"Fine then, but don't say I didn't warn you." The other May began to walk away, leaving May standing by herself. But May suddenly called out,

"Wait!" She began, "So does everybody have another soul?"

The other May turned towards May, "Yup, though you could say that every situation can be unique. There's a lot that goes into this shit" She then began to walk away again, "Some may be even more visible than you would think. Bye."

May watched her disappear in the white nothingness, and the entire space began to collapse on itself. May then opened her eyes.

May looked around and began she shift her body as she realized she was back in the Pokemon Center.

The room was still quite dark, but a dim light was coming from outside through the window.

May looked towards Ash who was sleeping in the bottom bunk opposite of her. He was sleeping comfortably underneath a white blanket with Pikachu at the foot of the bed.

She gave a small smile towards Ash before she lowered herself from the top bunk. She then neared Ash's bed and looked at both of the sleeping forms,

_"Two souls huh? No that's ridiculous. Then again…"_ May then moved to the foot of the bed and crouched down to get a better look at Pikachu.

_"I wonder if Pokemon have 'another soul' as well."_ May reached her arm out to pet Pikachu, but before she reached him,

"Pi-Pi-kaaa-choo" Pikachu led out a loud sneeze that caused Pikachu to let out some electricity,

"Ahhhh!" Yelled May the small amount but still shocking electricity going through her body.

This caused everybody in the room to stir in their sleep. Ash then sat up,

"Uh, what happened" Ash began still half asleep, he then saw May on the floor, "May, are you all right?"

"Yeah…Yeah" May began weakly, "It's just been an eventful morning."

* * *

After everybody woke up, the group had breakfast, and then they prepared to head out for the final leg to Santalune City.

As expected Paul was already ahead by the time they left the Pokemon Center.

The trek to Santalune City would take a few more hours, so they should be there in a few hours.

Though unknown to them, a honey blonde girl with a pink hat was right on their heels.

* * *

Ash marched into Santalune City with his head high, ready to collect his first gym badge.

His friends were following close by when Bonnie spoke up,

"Ash, do you know where you're going?"

"Of course, to the gym, and my gym badge" stated Ash as if it was obvious.

"Well, do you know where the gym is?" Clemont asked.

Ash then turned towards the group with a grin, "No idea."

The Pikachu and the others all sighed deflated.

"I knew we shouldn't let you lead the way, your sense of direction is worse than before" May said irritated.

"C'mon guys. No matter the situation I'll get my gym badge. As long as I go full steam ahead nothing will stop me." Ash ended emphatically as he stepped up onto a fountain and pointed straight ahead. And as if the universe agreed with him, water suddenly began to flow on cue with his gesture.

Then they all heard the snap of a camera, which caused them to turn.

"Thanks for the great shot" answered a woman in a white tank top and short green pants from behind the camera.

"Uh" began Ash confused, "You're welcome."

"I overheard you are all looking for the Santalune City gym, am I correct?"

"Yes, you are correct. Would you happen to know where it is?" Clemont asked politely.

"Certainly" nodded the Sandy Blond, "Head straight, and take the second right. You can't miss it."

"Thanks!" Ash then ran off now, equipped with directions.

"Ash, wait" called out Clemont. He then turned to Viola and gave her a quick bow, "Thank you very much" he then took after Ash with Bonnie.

May then gave a small thanks to the woman with the camera and ran after the others.

She just looked on with her dark green eyes as they ran towards the gym.

* * *

_ "Closed?"_

Paul was in front of the Santalune City gym, well, more specifically the closed Santalune City gym.

_"Well that's perfect" _Paul thought to himself,_ "Says here the gym leader is on a trip" _Paul read a message displayed on a holographic board in front.

Paul then heard the sound of several footsteps coming from behind. He turned around and was not ecstatic about what he saw.

_"Dammit."_

"Hey look, it's Paul" Bonnie pointed out.

"Hey Paul" Ash said simply.

"The gym is closed" responded Paul as he walked down the steps that led to the gym.

"Really?" Ash responded disheartened, "Oh man, and I really wanted to get my gym badge."

Paul walked by them, "A gym leader that can't maintain their post is an irresponsible one" he said to no one in particular.

"Is that what you believe?" Replied a young woman who appeared in front of Paul.

"Yes, what about it" Paul answered, half knowing who he was talking too.

"You're the nice lady who helped us find the gym" Bonnie mentioned.

"Oh yeah, thanks once again for helping us out" continued Ash.

"Of course, this is my gym after all, and I definitely enjoy visitors" she replied with a smile.

"Your gym? Does that mean you're the gym leader of the Santalune gym" May asked.

"Yup. My name is Viola. Nice to meet you."

"Alright!" Ash began, "My name is Ash, and I want to challenge you to a gym battle."

"Of course I'll accept your challenge. Are you the only one?"

"Me. My name is Paul" he stated

"Very well then. Follow me." Viola led the five into the gym.

* * *

Somewhere else in Santalune city, a honey blonde girl with blue eyes full of life rushed excitedly towards the Santalune City gym.

"He's going to be so surprised to see me after all this time. I wonder what the look on his face will be."

"I can't wait to see him again" she said with a smile as she continued towards the Santalune City Gym and Ash.

* * *

When Ash and company entered the gym, they were met with a large hallway with a multitude of pictures aligned on the wall.

"Wow, look at all the pictures. They look amazing." May mentioned.

Clemont observed the pictures closely, "They look to be mostly of bug types."

Clemont then looked towards Viola, "They wouldn't happen to be yours, would they?"

"Yeah, they are mine. I'm a professional photographer. Though these are only a few of the ones I have taken."

"You must really have a talent of taking pictures of Bug Pokemon Viola. These pictures are great" Ash commented.

"Why thank you Ash."

"Its true" added Bonnie, "You can tell how much you care about Bug types."

Bonnie suddenly became jumpy, "I know, Viola you're a keeper."

Bonnie then kneeled in front of Viola, "I mean, would you please take care of my brother."

Viola stared at her in confusion, "Uh…"

"Bonnie! What are you doing, I told a million times to stop this" Clemont said overly embarrassed.

"Clemont, you know you need somebody to take care of you. And I'm sure Viola would make a great wife for you" added Bonnie with a smile.

"His wife?"

"Oh no! This is so embarrassing." Clemont then activated his aipom arm and dragged Bonnie away, "You need to learn how to mind your own business."

Bonnie let out a cute giggle, "I hope you think about it Viola."

Everybody looked on towards the blonde twins.

"Bug types huh?" May began trying to break the awkwardness. She then pulled out a pokeball, "Beautifly, come on out."

"Beau-ti-fly" cried the Butterfly Pokemon as it gently landed on May's head.

"Oh wow" let out Viola excitedly as she pulled up her camera and began taking pictures, "You and Beautifly look perfect together. The only thing better than seeing a bug type in its own habitat is seeing one that is so close to its trainer."

May rubbed the back of her sheeplishly, "Thanks Viola, your too kind."

"It's true May, I would know. I saw you grow with Beautifly myself" said Ash.

May gave him a big smile in response, "Thanks Ash, that means a lot."

"So, shall we get this battle started, Ash?" Asked Viola

"Of course! And I'm going to win" Ash let out excitedly.

_"What am I, Stunfisk?" _Paul thought to himself.

* * *

Viola led them to the battlefield, which was surrounded by concrete walls that separated the battlefield from a small forest for Bug type Pokémon. The area had a windowed roof that allowed the sun to light up the forest and the battlefield.

Viola walked to the center of the battlefield to talk to the ref to get the gym battle started.

"Hey Ash and Paul" called out Viola from center field, "who's going first?"

"Me" they both answered simultaneously, causing them to eye each other.

"Um, I'll let you guys some time to resolve this yourself" was all Viola said.

"There's no need to resolve anything. I'm going first" said Paul as he walked down the steps to the battlefield.

"Where you think you're going?" Ash ran in front of Paul, "I'm going to battle Viola first."

Paul sighed and closed his eyes as he reached into his pocket, "Let's flip a coin for it."

He then took out a coin and flipped it in the air, "call it."

"Heads" Ash called out.

The coin spun in the air as it fell to the ground. But before anybody could see if it landed heads or tails, Paul stepped on the coin.

"What are you doing?" Ash asked a bit irritated.

"Are you sure it's heads?"

"What do you mean? It's a 50/50 chance, so it doesn't matter."

"Not exactly. When a coin is flipped in the air, the chances are tipped towards the side that was facing up in the first place."

"Really?" Ash asked skeptically.

Paul gave him a nod, "So, are you still sure?"

The way Paul explained, he made it seemed that it made all the difference, and Ash began to think long on hard. Finally he shook his head,

"Doesn't matter if that's true or not. It's still random, so heads."

Paul removed his foot from the coin. Ash looked at it, and much to his dismay the coin landed tails.

Paul began to walk towards the trainers' box when Ash called out,

"So what was the point of telling me that? You're not one to waste words like that."

Paul kept looking ahead, "Just to make sure that you know how this going to end. Not only will I be the first one to win a badge, but I will also be the last standing. So save you and your friends some inconvenience, you're not going anywhere."

Ash clenched his fist, but he quickly relaxed.

Paul reached for his Pokeball, but stopped when Ash responded,

"That's fine."

This took Paul for surprise.

"We all have our own way to reach our goals. And my friends will help me reach my goals. But there's one thing that will never change" Ash put balled his hand into a fist and placed it over his heart that always burned with passion, "I won't give up till the end."

Paul responded with silence.

"Ash, were about to start the battle" Viola said from across the field.

"Of course. I'm sorry." Ash walked up the steps and to the sidelines with everybody else.

"The battle between Paul the challenger, and Viola the Santalune gym leader will begin" began the ref, "Each side will have the use of two Pokémon. And the battle will be over when either trainer's Pokémon are unable to continue. Only the challenger can substitute Pokémon."

"Magmortar, stand by for battle!" Paul began with no hesitation.

The Blaze Pokémon appeared in a flash of light.

"That's was quick, doesn't a gym leader usually choose a Pokémon first?" May asked surprised.

"It's not an official rule but it is common practice" replied a curious Clemont,

_"Looks like his not wasting any time" _he thought to himself.

If Ash was surprised he didn't show it as he was unusually quiet.

Viola was surprised as well, but she quickly recovered,

"I see, you seem to be focused on victory. Then show me the depth of field your battle style achieves."

Viola then chose her Pokémon, which was a Surskit,

"Sur-skit" cried the Pokémon as it faced the much larger Magmortar.

Surskit began to skate on the ground as Magmortar stood unflinching, Viola then decided to make the first move,

"Surskit, use Bubble Beam!"

"Counter with Flamethrower!"

Both Pokemon fired at their trainers command, and a cool Bubble Beam met a fiery Flamethrower.

The attack led to the field becoming covered in a light steam.

"Magmortar, use Fire Punch" commanded Paul.

"Surskit, use protect" called out Viola.

"Sur-skit!" Surskit quickly surrounded itself in a protective green barrier, nullifying Magmortars Fire Punch.

"Now, Signal Beam!"

"Sur-Skit!" Surskit fired a streaky pink beam at Magmortar, hitting it in its chest and pushing it back.

"Mag-Mortar!" Cried the red and yellow Pokemon, as it shook off the bug type attack.

"Flamethrower, immediately" ordered Paul, not phased.

"Surskit, dodge quickly" ordered Viola.

Surskit quickly followed and managed to avoid the 3600+ degree Flamethrower.

"Now use Ice Beam on the field!"

Surskit quickly fire an Ice Beam high into the sky, the beams of ice then came down all over the field, covering it in ice.

"I'd like to introduce to our ice battlefield. The stage is now set. Go Surskit."

"Sur-Skit!" Cried the small blue Pokemon as it began to skate circles around Magmortar.

"Now, use Bubble Beam" Viola gestured with arms spread out wide.

Surskit fired a barrage of Bubble Beams as it circled Magmortar, who was struggling to stay balanced as the ice made it difficult to find its footing.

"The ice field is increasing Surskit's speed while making harder for Magmortar to move around" observed Clemont.

Paul ordered Flamethrowers from Magmortar, which barely kept the Bubble Beams at bay.

Paul showed no signs of urgency as Magmortar struggled.

_"Alright, I've had enough of this."_ Paul began his strategy.

"Magmortar, dig in!"

Magmortar did as it was told and sunk its feet into the ice, helping it to keep it balanced somewhat.

"Surskit, keep using Bubble Beam, while it's out of position."

"Sur-Skit!" Surskit fired another Bubble Beam at Magmortar.

"Hold your ground!" Demanded Paul.

Magmortar held its position and held up its arms to take the direct Bubble Beam,

"Mag-Mortar!" cried the Blaze Pokemon as the cool Bubble Beam hit its searing body.

"This is Surskit" Viola then used her hands to make an imaginary camera, "use your picture perfect Bubble Beam and end this."

Surskit fired another Bubble Beam looking to end the match.

"Rock Tomb" ordered Paul.

Magmortar quickly stretched its canon like arms forward and launched several rocks in front of it as a wall.

"Surskit is in trouble" Ash said out loud, which surprised everybody since he had been quiet the entire time.

"What do you mean Ash?" Clemont asked.

"I've seen this before" is all he said before turning his attention to the battle.

The Bubble Beam hit the make shift wall, easily destroying it, causing a small explosion that hid the whereabouts of Magmortar.

"Now, get in close, and end this with a Bubble Beam."

Surskit charged towards Magmortar, but once the smoke parted, Magmortar was nowhere to be found.

"Sur-Skit?"

"Where'd Magmortar go?" Everybody looked for said Pokemon

"Look, in the air!" Bonnie pointed out.

` Sure enough, Magmortar had leaped into the air, using Rock Tomb as a distraction.

"Smog" directed Paul.

Magmortar released toxic fumes from its cannon like arms, which reached Surskit before it could react, causing the Pond Skater Pokemon to choke.

"Paul can end it here" inferred Clemont.

But before anything else happened, a red beam of light hit Magmotar, returning it back into its Pokeball.

"Huh?" Viola, and everybody else for that matter, was caught off guard.

"Vivillon, stand by for battle."

"Vi-vi-llon!" Vivillon appeared on the field with elegance.

"Gust, now!" Called out Paul forcefully.

"Vi-vi-llon!" Cried the Scale Pokemon before unleashing a powerful gust.

Surskit had no time to recover and was quickly sent flying by the super effective gust.

"Surskit!" Called out Viola in vain.

"Surskit is unable to continue, Vivillon is the winner."

"Vi-vi-llon" cried the Pokemon contently as it lowered itself down to the ground.

Viola retuned the defeated Surskit to its Pokeball and her expression softened a bit, "Good job Surskit, you were great. Get a good rest."

Viola's determined expression quickly returned, "I see, your battling does have a good depth of field. But my pride as a gym leader is at stake, winning is no easy task."

She took out her second Pokemon, "Let's do this Vivillon!"

In a flash of light, a second Vivillon appeared on the field, but unlike Paul's Vivillon which had an elegant wing pattern, this one had an altogether different pattern.

"Vi-vi-llon!" Cried the meadow pattern Scale Pokemon.

A smirk appeared on Paul's face, _"perfect"_.

"Vivillon, you just defeated that Surskit with one attack" Paul directed towards his Pokémon, "it would be a disgrace if you lost to that poor excuse of a Vivillon."

_"What did he say?" _Thought Viola as she took that as a great insult to her Pokemon and herself.

Paul's Vivillon nodded and it led out a loud battle cry.

_"What a strategy"_ thought Clemont as he observed what had transpired, _"This is something one would see in a full battle of a high level. What makes it more impressive is that the objective was not to only defeat surskit, but to have Vivillon to gain momentum and confidence."_

Just then, the doors to the battlefield opened slowly.

A young lady with a black top and a red skirt slowly entered,

_"I wonder where Ash is"_ thought the young lady as she looked around the room.

She took a couple of tentative steps forward and discovered a battle was taking place.

She saw a blonde woman on the far side of the battlefield and a purple haired trainer in front of her. There were two large avian Pokemon on the battlefield.

She began to think Ash was not here, so she began to step away, but then someone called out towards her,

"Hello, can we help you in anyway?" Clemont asked as he caught Serena.

Serena tuned around, "No thank you I was jus-".

She cut herself off as she Ash and his unmistakable auburn eyes.

Serena's eyes widened, but she quickly got a hold of herself, "Um, I mean I was wondering if it was okay if I watched the battle."

"Sure, why not" responded Clemont, "our friend, Ash is going to battle next."

"O-okay, thanks" responded Serena as she walked towards the group.

May noticed Serena nearing them, and she couldn't help but feel weary.

"Hello, my name is Clemont and this is my sister Bonnie."

"Hi, my name is Serena."

"Nice to meet you Serena."

"It's nice to meet you too Bonnie."

May then decided to join in, "Hi, my name is May. Nice to meet you Serena" May said with a sweet smile.

Serena replied with her own smile, "Nice to meet you. I really like your headband, it works very good for you."

"Really, thanks Serena, I really wanted to try something different. Your hat looks great on you, I can see how fashionable you are."

"Thanks!" Serena replied happily.

May responded with a smile, _"I'm being silly, Serena is great."_

"Oh and that's Ash" pointed out Clemont.

Ash was concentrating on the battle, but he realized somebody new was with them,

"Hi Serena, I'm Ash, nice to meet you" Ash gave her a big grin, which made Serena look down instinctively.

"Hi Ash, it's nice to meet you" she said shyly.

"So what brings you to the gym? Are you looking for a gym battle as well."

"Um, not really. Actually, Ash, there's something I wanted to-" But before Serena could finish the sound of the battle starting shifted everybody's attention.

"Vivillon use gust" called out Viola as she made the first move.

"Protect" commanded Paul.

Vivillon surrounded itself in the same protective barrier that Surskit use earlier.

"String Shot!" Called out Paul forcefully.

Vivillon quickly changed up moves and fired a stream of white thread from its mouth.

"Use Psychic, and send it back" countered Viola.

"Vi-vi-llon!" cried Viola's Pokémon as its eyes began to glow light blow. The string shot stopped in midair, and the bug type sent it right back where it came from.

"Use Gust, now!" Paul ordered hurriedly.

Vivillon began flapping its wings forcefully, dissipating the string shot and causing Viola's Vivllon to struggle against the strong winds.

"Vivillon! Dive quickly and use psychic one more!"

Vivillon followed orders quickly and dove straight down from the gust's attack area. Its eyes began to glow light blue once again as it focused on Paul's Vivillon.

Paul quickly responded, "Stun Spore quickly, before the attack lands"

Vivillon's wings flaps changed pace and let loose an orange, paralyzing powder.

Viola's Vivillon soon took control of Vivillon's body,

"Give them a taste of the ice field" ordered Viola relentlessly.

Vivillon soon came crashing hard onto the battlefield with a thump.

As Vivillon laid on the ground for the moment, the cloud of powder began to surround Viola's Vivillon, the affects quickly began to show on the Pokemon,

"Use gust, and blow that away."

Vivillon quickly dissipated the dust cloud before it could have more effect.

"Quickly, String Shot!" Ordered Paul.

"Already!?" Responded Viola in response.

"Paul used the Stun Spore to buy time for Vivillon to recover" commented Clemont.

The String Shot was fired without a hitch, and Vivillon soon became wrapped in it,

"Into the ground" gestured Paul with a wave of his left arm.

Vivillon quickly followed and sent Vivillon into the icy battlefield.

Paul gave a small smile, _"Let's see how your Pokémon enjoys the ice." _But his smile soon disappeared,

"Vivillon, Break free and get above it" Viola commanded with a finger pointed to the sky.

_"What!?"_

Her Vivillon showed great strength as it broke the String Shot, showing off its beautiful wings once again. It then ascended to the highest point possible.

"Now use Sleep Powder."

Vivillon began to flap its wings releasing a blue powder dust cloud down towards the battlefield, hiding its position.

"Gust, now!" Demanded Paul.

Paul's Vivillon quickly flapped its wings dispersing the cloud before any of its ill effects reached it.

But that was not the issue. Once the dust cloud parted, it revealed Vivillon charging for a Solarbeam.

"Vivillon used the Sleep Powder as a distraction to buy time."

"Vivillon, Tackle!"

"Vi-vi-llon!" Cried the Scale Pokémon as it charged at full speed towards the opponent.

"Vivillon won't make it!" Measured Clemont.

"It doesn't matter" Ash spoke up once again, "He knows that, but as long as Vivillon cuts it off, that's all it matters to him."

"But that means…" Clemont couldn't finish.

May looked up worriedly. It was true, this was going to end with a bang, and their friend, Vivillon, was going to take the full brunt of it.

"Beau-ti-fly" cried May's beautifly slowly.

Viola's Vivillon fired the Solarbeam, but unfortunately Paul's Vivillon was in its breathing space.

The Solarbeam exploded as soon as it made impact with Vivillon, and Viola's Vivillon became caught in it as well.

Both Pokémon came flying towards their trainers, and they hit the sun reflecting ice hard and knocked out.

"Both Pokémon are unable to continue, the battle ends in a draw, the challenger, Paul. is the victor!" Announced the referee.

A heavy silence settled in the room as the battling ended.

A grimace flashed on Viola's face, but her expression softened as she took a deep breath. She then took out her Pokeball and returned Vivillon and praised it for its toughness.

Paul followed and returned Vivillon as well.

Viola then walked up to Paul with a badge in hand,

"Here, this is the Bug Badge as proof of your victory over the Santalune City Gym. It was a hard fought battle on both sides, you and your Pokémon showed great skill"

"Thank you. And it was." Paul said simply before he began to walk away.

"Hey Ash, if you're ready, we can battle anytime" Viola said towards Ash.

"Yeah, of course I'm ready" Ash replied and Pikachu reciprocated.

Ash turned to go to the battlefield, but he stopped as he realized something, "Hey, Serena, what were you going to tell me before?"

"Uh" Serena began uncertain, "It's okay, I'll tell you later. Just focus on your battle."

"Sure, I hope you cheer me on."

"Of course" Serena said softly.

Ash then quickly made his way to the stairs, where he met Paul.

"Are you leaving already?" Ash said as Paul passed him.

Without turning Paul stopped, "Yes."

"You don't want to see me battle, brother."

"Why would I? I already know everything about your battling."

"Maybe" Ash then walked down the stairs towards the battlefield, "But you've got to admit, my battles are always entertaining" Ash flashed a smile.

A grin appeared on Paul's face, he then gave a loud chuckle,

"That is true" he then turned back around to faced Ash, "Fine then, I'll watch your battle, just to see you squirm. Don't bore me."

"I won't." Ash then went down the steps as Paul stood at the top of the stairs.

Serena looked curiously at Ash, then at the purple haired trainer he was talking to, were they friends?

Viola was already standing on the far end of the field.

"The battle between Ash the challenger, and Viola the Santalune gym leader will begin" began the ref, "Each side will have the use of two Pokémon. And the battle will be over when either trainer's Pokémon are unable to continue. Only the challenger can substitute Pokemon."

_"This is it. My first step to win the Pokémon League. And I'll battle the best way I know how. Together, me and my Pokémon as one!"_

* * *

**Done! Thanks for reading.**

**Review if you would like, your feedback is appreciated.**

**See you next time, peace! **


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